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.

Dario Argento signed on to direct a movie called Yellow, which was written by Jim Agnew and Sean Keller. Intended as a pastiche of the giallo genre Argento was so well known for, the film changed its name to, well, Giallo. That’s just the start of the problems.

The original cast was Ray Liotta, Vincent Gallo and Asia Argento, but Gallo and Argento didn’t part from their engagement on the best of terms. A year later, the cast had changed to have Adrien Brody take on Liotta and Gallo’s parts and Emmanuelle Seigner taking over for Asia. He was also dating another co-star, Elsa Pataky, but they broke up the same year this was made.

I guess this movie isn’t as awkward as when he had on dreadlocks and spoke in a racist accent to introduce Sean Paul on Saturday Night Live but it’s close.

Flight attendant Linda (Seigner) and detective Enzo Avolfi (Brody) work together to find Linda’s younger sister Celine (Pataky) who ha been taken by a serial killer in an unlicensed can who goes by the name Yellow. He drugs, mutilated and kills these women, but not before taking the photos he will use to get off to later.

As they hunt for Yellow, Enzo reveals that he became a cop after his mother was killed by a butcher. After he got revenge, he was raised by Inspector Mori (Robert Miano) to use his skills for good. You know, like Dexter. Also, the killer might literally be yellow because of liver disease, exactly like Sin City or the remake of Black Christmas.

It’s a simple idea to contrast cop and murderer, showing both of their origins and motivations, which is even more obvious because Brody plays both characters. Brody did double work here and didn’t get paid for any of it, which led to him suing and getting the movie’s release stopped. He eventually got paid.

Now, two Americans making a giallo script and getting Argento to direct it could have been great but this just feels uninspired. I’ve read others try and explain how this is 21st century Argento and his new take and you shouldn’t expect the same greatness as the 70s and early 80s, but I don’t think anyone expected that this would be below the level of even bottom lever neo-gialli and feel closer to torture porn than a genre that if he didn’t invent, he certainly perfected. I feel the same way when people make excuses for modern day Metallica.  Two of those guys once wrote “Trapped Under Ice.” And Dario once made Deep Red and Tenebre, which for me are two of the most essential gialli.

The idea of the cab driver being a killer is like if Suspiria ended with Suzy Bannion dead before she ever got to the school. I know that Argento is playing with our expectations here but then he does something really rough. He doesn’t come close to reaching those expectations.

I always think about how much Argento and De Palma are alike. Argento hammers that point home because Yellow — played by Byron Diedra, get it? — has so many latex pieces that he looks as ridiculous as the killer in Body Double. Except, you know, Body Double is actually pretty good.

You can watch this on Tubi where it’s called Color of Fear. The title does not help at all.

Scott Adkins grew up in a family of butchers, got mugged as a teenager and learned how to kick people really hard. That’s an origin story. He got his start in films with the Hong Kong movie Dei Seung Chui Keung and now you can see him in his own starring direct to streaming movies and also in big action movies like John Wick 4.

Directed by Isaac Florentine and produced and written — with Michael Hurst — by Boaz Davidson, this is as close to a Cannon movie as you’re going to get these days. I mean, it does exactly what Cannon did with Enter the Ninja, placing a gaijin as the best ninja ever. That movie does not, however, have its hero kick a man so hard that he flies out the window of a train and get run over by another train.

Casey Bowman (Adkins) is the best ninja in the dojo of Sensei Takeda. Or he’s close to it, if Masazuka (Tsuyoshi Ihara) has anything to say. He’s angry that the sensei’s daughter Namiko (Mika Hijii) is becoming friends with an American, so in sparring he throws a katana right at our hero, who dodges it and scars the angry young man below the right eye.

Years after leaving the dojo, Masazuka has become a killer and wants to steal the ancient ceremonial weapons of his old dojo. He kills his old master, but Casey and Namiko have taken the treasure the whole way to New York City to keep it safe. The evil ninjas catch up with them and frame them for the murder of Takeda’s professor friend. Then, Masazuka kidnaps Namiko right out of a police station and demands that Casey fight him for the rights to her life and the dojo’s weapons.

Of course, no matter how many battles there are in this movie, it has to come down to Casey and Masazuka, which involves ninja magic, the healing power of a sword and someone’s head getting sliced off their shoulders. No spoilers, but seeing as how Casey is in the sequel Ninja: Shadow of a Tear, you can figure it out.

I love that Masazuka has embraced technology in his journey to be an evil ninja. Night vision goggles? A suit with glider wings? More of this in ninja film. Also, more action. This movie never stops. Even the exposition is action.

Plus, this is really Snake Eyes vs. Storm Shadow. Or, again, Enter the Ninja. It’s really a million times better Snake Eyes movie than any Hasbro-produced Snake Eyes, even if it was made for literally 10% of the budget of that last G.I. Joe movie.

When can I get a Scott Adkins action figure?

You can watch this on Tubi.

Leo (Gael García Bernaland) and Ellen (Michelle Williams) are, from the outside, a success. He’s created a website that has made them rich while she dedicates her life to saving lives as an emergency surgeron. Their daughter Jackie (Sophie Nyweide) is being raised mostly by their nanny Gloria (Marife Necesito) while they all lead their lives away from their New York City apartment.

Gloria is a mother herself, with her children in the Philippines raised by her mother while she makes money for them in the U.S. And as he works in Bangkok, Leo spends time with a sex worker named Cookie (Run Srinikornchot) who is also hiding that she is a mother.

The moral of this movie has been debated. Is it that women who don’t remain home often lead tragic lives? Or is it, as Moodysson says, about how women of very different social backgrounds have a struggle between work and making time for their children?

The mammoth of the title comes up as one of Leo’s co-workers gives him the gift of a $3,000 pen made from mammoth ivory, the once large and majestic beast reduced to a piece of a writing implement that will be used to sign contracts that just need his signature and not any form of thought to become rich and yet that money solves none of his ennui or the sense that his child is being supported and raised by someone who is a stranger.

The limited edition The Lukas Moodysson Collection from Arrow includes high definition blu rays of seven films, as well as interviews with Moodysson and other cast and crew, moderated by film programmer Sarah Lutton. There’s also a two hundred page featuring new writing by Peter Walsh, excerpts from the original press kits for each film, interviews with and directors’ statements from Moodysson and essays on his films from a 2014 special issue of the Nordic culture journal Scandinavica by C. Claire Thomson, Helga H. Lúthersdóttir, Elina Nilsson, Scott MacKenzie and Anna Westerståhl Stenport and Kjerstin Moody.

Extras include interviews with Lukas Moodysson, line producer Malte Forssell and Gael Garcia Bernal, as well as a trailer and image gallery.

You can get this set from MVD.

Also known as Erotic Nights of the Blind Dead and El Retorno de los Templarios, this shot on video homage to the work of Amando de Ossorio can’t live up to the master but it tries with more screams and more sleaze than even he would try. I mean, the main story is about Miranda being assaulted by her father — in lurid detail, mind you — and her brother Jorge trying to rescue her and failing. Then, the Blind Dead, who once killed witches and were in turn killed by villagers, rise and attempt to destroy her as well. It takes hours and hours to get there, even slower than the slowest of de Ossorio’s slow motion.

Director Vick Campbell also made Black Roses Symphony and The Gravedigger. I’ve also heard that this is British — by way of saying he’s Polish — director Roman Nowicki. Or maybe he’s Vick Gomez. If this was a better movie, I’d delve into who or what he is, but I honestly struggled to get through this and I absolutely love the Blind Dead.

Eurohorror works because it’s trash but also it has some strange level of class to it. I can’t really explain. Sure, there is whipping and nudity and depravity but there’s also the look of things being shot on film and having some actual erotic charge to them. You need more than just to linger on the Templars, as well. You need a reason for them to be there. This is formless.