ARROW 4K ULTRA HD BLU RAY RELEASE: Last House On the Left (2009)

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The rights to The Last House on the Left were picked up by Rogue Pictures in 2006, with the remake being the first film produced by Wes Craven’s newly formed studio Midnight Pictures. The director and writer of the original, Craven wanted to see what the movie could look like with a bigger budget.

Eli Roth was the original choice to direct, but Quentin Tarantino gave him the advice to turn it down. Dennis Iliadis was the final choice based on his movie Hardcore.

Writer Adam Alleca moved the story to the West Coast, but his third act had supernatural elements that no one liked. The final version of the story was polished by Carl Ellsworth.

This had to be a pressure-filled movie for everyone. Garret Dillahunt, as Krug, had a lot to live up to. Everyone did, you know?

The movie starts with Emma (Monica Potter) and John Collingwood (Tony Goldwyn) and their daughter Mari (Sara Paxton) on vacation at their lake house. Mari borrows the family car to go see a friend in town, Paige (Martha MacIsaac), and then smoke weed with someone they just met, Justin (Spencer Treat Clark). Justin’s family — Krug, Francis (Aaron Paul) and Sadie (Riki Lindhorne) soon show up and things quickly get brutal. After killing Paige and nearly murdering Mari — yes, this is a spoiler but this tale has been around forever — the family ends up coincidentally at the home of Mari’s parents.

The reviews for this movie seemed to be about how it was in comparison to the first version instead of how good this movie is. It’s quiet in so many ways, even if it goes for the gut later. This isn’t my favorite type of movie, but this is still a strong effort.

The Arrow 4K ultra UHD blu ray of this movie comes with the theatrical and unrated version of the movie, along with a collector’s book, a new filmed introduction by director Dennis Iliadis, new audio commentary by David Flint and Adrian Smith, new interviews with Sara Paxton, Garret Dillahunt, Carl Ellsworth and Jonathan Craven, a trailer and deleted scenes. You can get it from MVD.

MILL CREEK SCI-FI CLASSICS: She Gods of Shark Reef (1958)

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Directed by Roger Corman and written by Robert Hill (Confessions of an Opium Eater) and Victor Stoloff, this finds brothers Jim (Don Durant) and Chris (Bill Cord) running from a murder charge to the Sulu Sea, where they’re shipwrecked on — you know it — a shark-infested reef. They’re rescued by an all-female society of pearl divers. The younger women enjoy them being there but Queen Pua (Jeanne Gearson) wats them gone.

Chris falls in love with Mahia (Lisa Montell) while Jim steals the pearls. His brother has to decide if he can save his new lover or his brother and, well, the shark eats well.

American-International Pictures added the She Gods part of the title, which is a good move on their part. It was made with one shark and plenty of stock footage. This played double features with Night of the Blood Beast.

This was filmed at the Coco Palms Resort where Elvis shot Blue Hawaii. The hotel used to sell weddings based on the end of that movie where Elvis finally settles down. Miss Sadie Thompson was made there as well with the Chapel in the Palm built just for that movie. Grace Buscher, the manager of the hotel, would use this chapel to invent the Hawaiian destination wedding.

Don’t have the box set? Watch this on Tubi.

MILL CREEK SCI-FI CLASSICS: Robot Monster (1953)

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Phil Tucker invented a rotary engine known as the CT Surge Turbine that he successfully patented and unsuccessfully tried to sell to the automobile industry as a more efficient alternative to the internal combustion engine. And years after directing movies like this and The Cape Canaveral Monsters, he did actually contribute to some movies as an editor, including Orca and King Kong.

Yet we’re all going to remember him for this movie and to be honest, whenever life gets me down, I remember that at some point, people got together and decided to make a movie about the end of the world and threw a monkey suit with a TV set for a head in it and I think about the startling ridiculousness of that and you know, it’s all better.

That monster is known as Ro-Man Extension XJ-2. He’s played by George Barrows, who made his own gorilla suit to get roles in movies. He’s already used his Calcinator death ray to kill everyone on Earth except for the eight people we meet in this movie.

I mean, that’s pretty through. There were 2.6 billion people alive in 1953, so to wipe out that many people, much less be able to find the eight you missed is pretty good work, if I can commend the outright annihilation of a planet.

Sure, this movie outright rips off the ending of Invaders from Mars and recycles footage from One Million B.C., Lost Continent, Rocketship X-M and Captive Women, but it’s in 3D, shot all over Bronson Canyon and was made in four days for $16,000. That is also worth celebrating.

It also has a score by Elmer Bernstein, who was currently being held back from major movies because of his liberal views. He also did a score for Cat Women of the Moon that year, but soon would be one of the biggest names in movie music.

Look, this is a movie that has a Billion Bubble Machine with an antenna being used for Ro-Man to communicate with the Great Guidance, the supreme leader of his face, who finally gets fed up and blasts not only that gorilla robot but the child hero before he causes dinosaurs to come back and then uses psychotronic vibrations to smash Earth out of the universe. If you can’t find something to love there, you are beyond hope.

You can watch the Mystery Science Theater and original version of this movie on Tubi.

MILL CREEK SCI-FI CLASSICS: The Galaxy Invader (1985)

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In the 1960’s, Don Dohler created an underground comic book called WILD that had contributors like Jay Lynch, Art Spiegelman, Skip Williamson and even R. Crumb. He went on to create the zine Cinemagic, which was written to help filmmakers learn how to make movies, that ran for 11 issues until Starlogbought it. He also published several books on moviemaking and directed the films The Alien Factor, Nightbeast, Blood Massacre and Fiend. After a decade plus of a self-imposed break, he returned to moviemaking along with actor/police officer Don Ripple. Together, they made Alien Rampage, Harvesters, Stakes, Vampire Sisters, Crawler and Dead Hunt.

The Galaxy Invader was made before that break. Get ready.

In Baltimore, Don Dohler’s hometown, a meteor crashes down to Earth. A young couple goes to see what happened and that’s when they meet the Galaxy Invader, a green rubber-suited monster that’s a mix between Bigfoot and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Of course, they get killed.

Locals soon gather to hunt the creature and try to make money from it. Most of the movie is about the Montague family, including father Joe, who is often drunk, abusive and carrying around guns. George Stover shows up, showing that there’s at least one connection between Dohler and Baltimore’s favorite son, or at least weirdest, John Waters.

If you’re looking for rednecks running through the woods hunting one another and a giant green alien, well, good news. This movie was made for you. You may remember some of the beginning, too. That’s because the effects were used without permission for the movie Pod People.

MILL CREEK SCI-FI CLASSICS: First Spaceship on Venus (1960)

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Also known as Planet of the Dead and Spaceship Venus Does Not Reply, this is really the East German/Polish film Milcząca Gwiazda / Der Schweigende Stern, which would mean The Silent Star in English. It’s based on Stanislaw Lew’s 1951 novel The Astronauts. The author — who also was the man behind Solaris — was critical of the final film, saying, “It practically delivered speeches about the struggle for peace. Trashy screenplay was painted; tar was bubbling, which would not scare even a child.”

So how did it make it to America? Out old friends at Crown International Pictures, who In 1962 released a cut-down and American-friendly dub of the movie — along with two other cuts under the aforementioned Planet of the Dead and Spaceship Venus Does Not Reply titles. Domestic audiences wouldn’t see the original, uncut version of the film until it was re-released by the DEFA Film Library of the University of Massachusetts Amherst as The Silent Star.

Scientists discover that the Tunguska explosion of 1908 was caused by an alien craft and not a meteor, which sends them to Venus, where they discover that the inhabitants of that planet want to irradiate the Earth and take it over. More precisely, they would have, had they not nuked themselves into oblivion.

If you watched this and thought, “Have I seen this movie somewhere else?” that would be because it’s the movie within a movie in Galaxina. If you listened to it and felt the same way, that’s because it liberally borrows — steals — music from Destination Moon, This Island Earth and The Wolf Man.

You can watch the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of this movie on Tubi or the original on YouTube:

ARROW 4K BLU RAY RELEASE: Witness (1985)

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Directed by Peter Weir and written by Earl W. Wallace and William Kelley, Witness tells the tale of an Amish community outside Lancaster, Pennsylvania and one of their youngest members, Samuel (Lukas Haas), who has witnessed a murder in a Philadelphia train station. Detective Sergeant John Book (Harrison Ford) and his partner Sergeant Elton Carter (Brent Jennings) are on the case and soon discover that the murderers were corrupt police officers, Book is nearly killed by them and has to hide out with the Amish while protecting Sam and his mother Rachel (Kelly McGillis) from the criminals.

Ford spent time with the Philadelphia Police Department and McGillis lived with an Amish widow and her seven children, learning how to milk cows and practicing their Pennsylvania German dialect. Filmed in Intercourse, Lancaster, Strasburg and Parkesburg, this had local Amish work as carpenters and electricians while refusing to be in the movie. The Amish extras that appear are really Mennonites.

Leading up to and following its release, Witness was met with controversy from the Amish. They felt that it exploited them and the graphic violence in the movie went against their religion. The National Committee For Amish Religious Freedom asked for a boycott and the state of Pennsylvania agreed to not promote Amish communities for movie sets. Yet the film has a scene that calls this out, as Rachel talks about people just walking onto their farms and staring at them, treating them as someone to gawk at.

The winner of Oscars for Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing, Witness was a big movie when it came out. In his top one hundred movies, Akira Kurosawa had this at 89.

I’ve always thought that it was an interesting film for Ford to be in and also one that shows the alien nature of the Amish and never judges them. Instead, it shows that these parallel worlds can exist — and should — outside of the modern way of life.

The Arrow Video 4K blu ray of this movie has a new audio commentary by film historian Jarret Gahan, a visual essay on the film’s performances by film journalist Staci Layne Wilson, a 1985 interview with Ford, a five-part documentary on the making of Witness, an interview with Weir, a deleted scene that was used in the TV version, a trailer and an image gallery. It’s all inside a limited edition package with art by Tommy Pocket. There’s also a booklet with writing from Dennis Capicik, Martyn Conterio, John Harrison and Amanda Reyes. As if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a poster snd six postcards. You can get it from MVD.

UNEARTHED BLU RAY RELEASE: Deadgirl (2008)

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Rickie (Shiloh Fernandez) and J.T. (Noah Segan) are the kind of guys who can never get the women of their dreams. In Rickie’s case, it’s Joann (Candice King), who he has known since they were young. The two men leave class early and sneak into an abandoned psychiatric hospital where they find a mute and naked woman (Jenny Spain) restrained. J.T. wants to assault her and his friend explains why he shouldn’t, which should tell you who we’re spending time with in this movie. The next day, they come back and J.T. tells Rickie that the woman is undead. He knows. He’s already killed her three times.

Rickie decides to free her, leaving a hand unchained when J.T. tries to have sex with her. She scratches his face. Things get worse, though, when Rickie decides to ask out Joann, knowing she’s dating Johnny (Andrew DiPalma). He and his friend Dwyer (Nolan Gerard Funk) beat him unmercifully and then make him show the Deadgirl, who ends up biting Johnny’s penis and infecting him. As you can imagine, she is not the last person who gets infected and turned into a member of the walking dead.

Directed by Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel and written by Trent Haaga, this isn’t for everyone. Combining zombies and sex is a mixture that many aren’t ready for and it has some triggering elements of sexual assault. That said, it’s an interesting film that’s well made.

The Unearthed blu ray of this movie is packed with extras, which seems to be a continued highlight from this company. There are new interviews with Hared, Haaga, Segan, Fernandez and makeup artist Jim Ojala, as well as two audio commentaries, one with the cast and crew and the other with Jenny Spain. There are also making of features, Spain’s audition, multiple galleries and a trailer. This label keeps putting so much effort into movies that are under the radar and I’m intrigued by what they plan on doing next. You can get this from MVD.

ARROW VIDEO BOX SET RELEASE: Savage Guns

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Arrow Video continues its releases of Italian Westerns that started with Vengeance Trails and continued with Blood Money.

Arrow Video’s Savage Guns box set has high definition 2K restorations of all four films from the original 35mm camera negatives, with El Puro newly restored by Arrow Films. Plus, you get brand new introductions to each film by journalist and critic Fabio Melelli, an illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the films by author and critic Howard Hughes, a fold-out double-sided poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx and limited edition packaging with reversible sleeves featuring original artwork and a slipcover featuring newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx. Plus, each movie has its own set of extras, including behind the scenes features, interviews, commentaries and even alternate titles.

The movies include:

I Want Him Dead: Clayton has lost his sister Mercedes to criminals but can’t go to the sheriff as he’s already killed that man’s brother in self defense. Now, he has to go after a criminal who wants the Civil War to keep killing people.

Wrath of the Wind: Wealthy landowner Don Antonio hires Marcos and Jacobo to put a stop to the revolutionaries that threaten his profits. He didn’t think Marcos would end up joining them.

El Puro: El Puro was once a dangerous and much feared gunfighter. But today, well, he’s a drunk lying low in a nothing town, concerned that a killer trying to make his name by shooting him is behind every corner. Can he get his iron back?

The Four of the Apocalypse: In Lucio Fulci’s brutal Western, professional gambler Stubby Preston, pregnant sex worker Bunny, the alcoholic Clem and an older man named Bud run into a Mexican gunman named Chaco who sets death and redemption for each of them.

I’m so excited that Arrow has kept releasing these sets and am ready for whatever comes next. It’s so great to have high quality versions of these movies for my collection. I’ve always wanted a better version of Fulci’s movie, so this is essential.

MVD BLU RAY RELEASE: Vile (2011)

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Ten kidnapped individuals have 22 hours to mount an escape from a locked room. To get out, they have to endure the absolute heights of pain. Taylor Sheridan, who went on to write Sicario, is listed as the director but doesn’t see himself that way, saying that this movie provided the training he needed to direct later.

Things begin with Tayler (April Matson), Tony (Akeem Smith), Kai (Elisha Skorman) and Nick (Eric Jay Beck) picking up Diane (McKenzie Westmore, whose family has multiple generations of makeup artists), whose car is broken down. She gases everyone and they wake up inside a room where a voice tells them they have 22 hours to escape but must inflict pain on each other to do it. And oh yeah, they have devices in their necks to keep them there. Creating suffering fills up a jar and once that jar is filled, they can remove the devices and escape. If they fail, it will inject poison into their brains and kill them. One of the people not from the group but in the room, Julien (Ian Bohen) tries to remove his device and dies instantly.

What follows is pretty much abuse, self-abuse and outright attacks on one another within the group to raise the suffering and escape. Beck wrote this along with Rob Kowsaluk and if you like the Saw movies and said, “I’d like to watch people tear out others fingernails,” this has you covered.

Sheridan went on to direct Those Who Wish Me Dead and create Special Ops: Lioness.

The MVD blu ray of Vile has a reversible cover, a limited edition slipcover, deleted scenes and a theatrical trailer. You can get it from MVD.

Spagvemberfest 2023 and Arrow Video Savage Guns box set: The Four of the Apocalypse (1975)

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Salt Flats, Utah. 1873. Professional gambler Stubby Preston (Fabio Testi, Contraband) is arrested the moment he steps off the stagecoach, thwarting his plans to win money from the town’s casino. It turns out that he’s actually lucky, because the town has become a vigilante mob that burns that den of iniquity to the ground, leaving only Stubby and three other criminals alive: Bunny (Lynne Frederick, Phase IV), a pregnant prostitute, a black man named Bud and the alcoholic Clem (Michael J. Pollard, Bonnie and Clyde).

The four are given safe passage out of town by the sheriff, who gives them a wagon and horses for all of their remaining money and possessions. Soon, they are traveling with a Mexican gunman named Chaco (Tomas Milian, Don’t Torture a Duckling) who saves the group from lawmen, only to torture one of the remaining lawmen in front of the group.

Nevertheless, everyone agrees to take peyote together. The four wake up tied up as Chaco (Milian claims he based his performance on Manson) taunts and beats them, shooting Clem and raping Bunny in front of the entire group.

There have been rumors for decades that Frederick and Testi were having an affair during this film. Testi was dating Ursula Andress at the time, who was incredibly jealous. Some evidence is that even when Frederick’s scenes were all wrapped, the two actors improvised scenes that would include the two of them, including a love scene that has been lost. During the aforementioned rape scene, Milian was so into character and so rough that Testi’s reaction in that scene is real.

The four manage to get the gravely injured Clem onto a makeshift stretcher and follow Chaco and his gang as they kill everything in their path. Finally, they find a ghost town where Clem dies, Bud loses his mind and Stubby and Bunny admit that they love one another — just in time for her to die in childbirth and Stubby to leave her son to a town made up of only men.

Stubby hunts down Chaco, learning that the sheriff set up the events of the entire movie. Enraged, he murders every single person there, leaving Cacho alive so that he can torture him. When Chaco reminds him that he raped Bunny, Stubby shoots him without a word, as he walks into the sunset with only a stray dog as a companion.

Four of the Apocalypse… is influenced by Easy Rider and attempts to offer up a journey of redemption, but you have to understand that Fulci is at the helm. That means that as soon as you have a tender, feel-good moment, you’re going to be given moments of pure gore, like people skinned alive or used for food. Yet there’s also art to be found, thanks to Fulci’s first of ten collaborations with cinematographer Sergio Salvati. It’s also the first time Fulci would work with Fabio Frizzi on the soundtrack. The result is unlike anything you’ve heard in a spaghetti western.

Arrow Video’s Savage Guns box set has high definition 2K restorations of all four films from the original 35mm camera negatives, with El Puro newly restored by Arrow Films. Plus, you get brand new introductions to each film by journalist and critic Fabio Melelli, an illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the films by author and critic Howard Hughes, a fold-out double-sided poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx and limited edition packaging with reversible sleeves featuring original artwork and a slipcover featuring newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx.

Four of the Apocalypse has new audio commentary by author and producer Kat Ellinger, an appreciation of the movie by Stephen Thrower, a deep dive into the soundtrack with Lovely Jon Newly, a trailer and an image gallery.

You can get this set from MVD.