Evil Ed (1995)

Director: Anders Jacobsson

Notable Cast: Johan Rudebeck, Olof Rhodin, Per Lofberg, Cecilia Ljung, Camela Leierth, Danne Malmer, Mikael Kallaanvaara

Notable Voice Cast: Jim Friedman, Greg Roberts, John Thelin, Kara Killen, Joey Seisay, David Nerge, Bill Moseley

Horror comedies are a dime a dozen, although they certainly were not as prevalent as they are now it would seem, but even within that subgenre there are different approaches to the comedy and the horror elements contained within. One of the methods that varies the most in quality is the slapstick horror comedy, one of the more popular styles, and going into a film that takes this tactic can be a crapshoot. Even with a film that’s earned a significant cult following like Evil Ed there is an air of inconsistency that can be a huge detriment to the entire thing. While Evil Ed deserves the cult following it has accrued over the years, the film is not perfect. However, there is an impeccable kind of energy with a can-do attitude that partners with phenomenal special effects that makes this film the perfect kind of B-flick. Thus, also making it the perfect film for the Arrow Video audience.

Waxwork (1988) and Waxwork II: Lost in Time (1992)

WAXWORK (1988)

Director: Anthony Hickox

Notable Cast: Zach Galligan, Deborah Foreman, Michelle Johnson, Dana Ashbrook, Micah Grant, Eric Brown, Clare Carey, David Warner, Patrick Macnee, Mihaly Mexzaros, Charles McCaughan, Miles O’Keeffe, John Rhys-Davies, Edward Ashley

A film like Waxwork can only have come from an era as overzealous as the 80s horror film scene. Seriously. While the approach to its style and tone may not be for everyone, it does make for a film that’s relentlessly quirky and, for all intents and purposes, loud. In this manner, the film is exponentially fun. There is no subtlety to this film whatsoever as it goes about telling its tale of a haunted wax work museum and the youths that are being tormented by it. The structure of the film allows it to do plenty of fun “side stories” as the various protagonists are zapped into the scenes and have to fight off a variety of monsters or villains and it gives director Hickox a chance to show off some great practical effects and the strange sense of over the top humor he likes to inject into his films. In this regard, Waxwork is a full blown hilarious and entertaining time at the movies.

Spotlight on a Murderer (1961)

Director: Georges Franju

Notable Cast: Pierre Brasseur, Pascale Audret, Marianne Koch, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Dany Saval, Jean Babilee, Georges Rollin, Gerard Buhr, Maryse Martin, Serge Marquand, Lucien Raimbourg, Robert Vattier, Jean Ozenne, Philippe Leroy

One of the beautiful aspects of writing about cult film is that, with an open mind, there is a lot of surprises out there in the historical landscape of the art and so much of it is overlooked. Spotlight for a Murderer is one of those films that creates a special moment of discovery for me. Arrow Academy is a label fairly new to me as Blood Brothers has mostly dedicated its time to genre films more often than arthouse cinema, but Spotlight for a Murderer is one that appeals to both the genre side and the arthouse side. A 1961 French murder mystery flick, this gem is at times a noir, a gothic horror flick, an Agatha Christie inspired thriller, and a satire on all those things. It adheres to the tropes, but does so in a manner that indicates it knows it is accomplishing just that and starts to toy with its audience in the meantime. The film is highly engaging and is practically self-aware which makes it the perfect kind of cult film, in the know but well executed enough to exist on multiple levels. Needless to say, for those who enjoy any of the above listed genres or styles, Spotlight on a Murderer is a film primed for your collection.

Wolf Guy (1975)

Director: Kazuhiko Yamaguchi

Notable Cast: Sonny Chiba, Etsuko Nami, Kani Kobayashi, Yayoi Watanabe, Harumi Sone, Saburo Date, Hiroshi Nawa, Kyosuke Machida, Hideo Murota, Hiroshi Kondo

Seeing as Wolf Guy had not previously had a US release (in any format that I’m aware of, although if anyone knows you’re welcome to comment,) I was going into this newest Blu Ray release from Arrow Video blind. Sonny Chiba is always a selling point for me and the idea of having a werewolf action thriller from the 70s certainly perked my interest. Beyond that, this was going to be a full on blind run. Although I certainly expected Wolf Guy to be strange from its concepts, I had no idea just how off center and bat shit insane it was actually going to be. This film is utterly and truly outrageous in every aspect. In this regard, Wolf Guy (the full title is Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope) is massively entertaining for those looking for it even if the film itself is horrendously hit or miss in its execution of such. It’s a give or take kind of scenario, but go into Wolf Guy with the right mindset and one is most certainly going to come away entertained if nothing else.

Alien: Covenant (2017)

Director: Ridley Scott

Notable Cast: Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterson, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demian Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Amy Seimetz, Callie Hernandez, Guy Pearce

Prometheus was a film that almost immediately divided its fanbase. There are those that love it, those that hate it, and those that didn’t see it. Despite its occasionally glaring flaws, I sincerely love that film. I like that Ridley Scott tried to take the Alien franchise in a new direction, piled on a strange artistic and often bleak intent, and made an ambitious film that struck a chord (for better or worse) with everyone who saw it. Perhaps it’s these reactions to Prometheus that made its sequel – and still Alien prequel – feel a tad generic. On one hand, Scott and team seem intent on continuing with some of the themes of Prometheus with its very bleak tone and injected philosophical undertones. On the other hand, Alien: Covenant seems desperate to try and appease the Alien fans that bitched about Prometheus being too ‘different’ and goes back to some key formulas to appease them. Both are legitimate approaches to the film and, truthfully, Scott’s intent is admirable on some levels, but it still seems like the film is stuck trying to be two different films and the results are a tad awkward at times. Covenant is certainly a solid science fiction horror flick that entertains well enough with some scares and concepts, but when it comes to Ridley Scott I tend to come in with high expectations and this film just doesn’t reach those.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)

Directors: Joachim Ronning, Espen Sandberg

Notable Cast: Johnny Depp, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario, Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush, Kevin McNally, Golshifteh Farahani, David Wenham, Stephen Graham, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Paul McCartney

Also Known As: Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge

To give a bit of context to this review, my opinion of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is far from a positive one. Like most people, I was massively surprised by the quality of the first, but the second and third entries left me cold and/or irritated by the sheer and immense spectacle driven focus that they had quickly succumbed to. However, with dire expectations in hand, the fourth film was surprisingly fun. It stripped away a ton of the melodramatic set pieces for a much more efficient (and for some, boring) summer blockbuster formula that left me pleasantly surprised. That is not, however, a statement of On Stranger Tides’ quality as it certainly was not a film to challenge its viewers or was even executed in any kind of artistic fashion. It accepted itself for all its silliness and delivered a fun standalone feature.

This now brings us to the focus of this review, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, a somewhat hilarious title considering that at least half of its main returning characters have been dead or dead-like for at least some portion of this franchise. As the fifth entry into this franchise, it was mildly touted as a finale that would wrap up some threads left hanging while maintaining the classic concepts and even ‘returning to its roots’ to fix some of the issues that fans had with the fourth entry. True to its promises, it kind of does all of those things. Kind of.  And it still delivers a fun summer kick off blockbuster that fans will find enjoyable enough. Truthfully though, Dead Men Tell No Tales is something of a mess narratively speaking, sticking to the formula with almost vicious intent and failing to really add anything truly inspired or new, but not quite sinking to the depths of poorly crafted storytelling that the second and third entry hit. To put it simply, it’s a lot of the same old, same old. For better or worse.

Poolsideman (2016)

Director: Hirobumi Watanabe

Notable Cast: Gaku Imamura, Hirobumi Watanabe

Continuing in the beautiful black and white cinematography that I believe Watanabe will do the entirety of his career with, which I am okay with 100 percent, Poolsideman blends the slow moving, observational elements of 7 Days and injects it with the black humor of And the Mudship Sails Away..., creating a film that seems to work to the strengths of the filmmaker, and is his best work thus far in my mind, though I put 7 Days right alongside it. Let me explain...

Gaku Imamura makes his acting debut as a man working at an inside pool building, in a city north of Tokyo, that seems to avoid all the chaos plaguing the rest of the world. This poolside man, spends every day working here, going through his very set routine, bored out of his mind, slowly crawling through the days. The film really makes a point of showing just how tedious and dull his daily life is. 7 Days uses this same method of the mundane to showcase the realness of life and captures time in the same way that someone like Tsai Ming-liang (Stray Dogs) does so well. It is absolutely slow, yet visually captivating and ultimately rewarding. Here, we really feel for the man's turtle-paced life, desperately wanting to see him break out and move on to better things, but he, like many others, is completely trapped in his own world, though he seems to be completely unaware of how easy it would be to just... leave.

Gaku Imamura gives a haunting performance debut!

The film gets a lot deeper than that, when we see that he never talks to his very, very chatty coworkers who speak a million words a minute on their breaks. He just sits there, like a bump on a log, antisocial, and even though they are at the same small table, somehow, he feels miles away from the company surrounding him. I don't want to delve to deeply on this, as really there isn't much to the film, in terms of things that happen. Again, the days are repeated, with subtle variations on the same repetitions. Another plot point, which I can focus on, is that one fine day another poolside man comes to our bored lead's place of employment, and he is played very hilariously by the director himself, Hirobumi Watanabe (7 Days).

I believe the most memorable parts of Poolsideman are when the two are chatting in their commutes to and from work. Our lead drives, saying nothing as usual, and occasionally lighting up a cigarette, while Hirobumi's character rattles random thoughts off the top of his head, and he is a big manga and anime nerd, providing some of the funniest monologues I've ever heard, including one where he says it is impossible to communicate with younger people, especially One Piece fans. I can't remember the dialogue to a tee, but it was absolutely hilarious. Still, the main character never once speaks.

"I am from the Dragonball generation!"

The choice of no dialogue here has its purpose, though the reasoning here versus Watanabe's previous work, are for two totally different reasons. There is something bubbling under the surface, though what, I don't want to spoil. The character soaks himself in the most awful and disturbing news of the war and terror that is surrounding the world as we speak. It echoes and takes these real moments happening around us in real life, and throws them at you repeatedly throughout here, and is a sad reminder of just how dark our existence as a species is becoming. Again, I don't want to ruin anything, but the final act, and the last scene are really something powerful and will stick with you long after the credits roll.

Yes, Watanabe's adorable grandmother has
 a brief appearance in this film as well.

Poolsideman started up, and I really thought it was just going to be a rehashed 7 Days, just at a pool building setting versus a farm life setting, but as it goes on it morphs into something totally different, and in ways a lot deeper. It is sort of blatant in its political showcasing, but it doesn't really take sides. I mean that the hero has his beliefs, though they are sort of open-ended to an extent, but it just chillingly provides a large barrage of vileness that people seem to have become desensitized to. It's sad, but a reality. This film ended up being far more interesting that I thought it would be, and is a total unseen gem. Such a shame that his works, aside from his debut, are practically nonexistent outside of Japan. Hoping some brave indie label comes along and snatches up Watanabe's works. He really needs to be known, and here's to hoping that just that very thing happens one day.

Written by Josh Parmer

Cops Vs Thugs (1975)

Director: Kinji Fukasaku

Notable Cast: Bunta Sugawara, Hiroki Matsukata, Tatsuo Umemiya, Shingo Yamashiro, Asao Sano, Akira Shioji, Hideo Murota, Mikio Narita, Takuzo Kawatani, Harumi Sone, Tatsuo Endo, Nobuo Kaneko

“It’s war. Go and get them.”

The 70s were about as prime as it gets for Kinji Fukasaku films. The man essentially could do no wrong. Whether it was his two stints of the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series (the second series called New Battles Without Honor and Humanity is getting a Blu Ray release here in the US in July and everyone and their dog should be very excited) or his various other stand-alone features, pretty much anything he did from this era is gold. This includes Cops Vs Thugs, a film he did in-between entries on the previously noted New Battles series. It was hard not to get my hopes up for this film going into it knowing that not only was it a Fukasaku film from this period, but it starred some of his regulars and was written by Kazuo Kasahara who penned the first four Battles films, and even with those hopes Cops Vs Thugs strikes out as another massively impressive film that dives into the complex humanity of law and crime. It’s a film that is both highly entertaining in an action oriented cops and robbers manner, but it also strikes a very effective chord about the gray areas of morality that being human straddles in a world that’s not nearly as black and white as it is made out to be. The results are another classic from an iconic director that needs a lot more love and a lot more attention.

God of War (2017)

Director: Gordon Chan

Notable Cast: Vincent Zhao, Sammo Hung, Wan Qian, Koide Keisuke, Kurata Yasuaki

When one looked at the sheer amount of talent that was being utilized for God of War, it could almost be scary. Between director Gordon Chan, Sammo Hung, and an impeccably crafted cast anchored by Vincent Zhao, this film should be the epic war film of decade from the Chinese market. While the film occasionally slips into some cheesy territory, God of War does not disappoint as an epic war film and goes a step further by including some impressive moments that I did not expect going into it. God of War is truly massive from its dramatic heartfelt characters to its engaging blend of entertaining popcorn moments to its larger than life battle sequences. This is a film that does not hold back and it’s two hours of pure dynamic and dramatic action entertainment and perhaps the best film Gordon Chan has developed in a decade.

Climber, The (1975)

Director: Pasquale Squitieri

Notable Cast: Joe Dallesandro, Stefania Casini, Benito Artesi, Ferdinando Murolo, Raymond Pellegrin

For a bit of context to this review, I’m hardly an expert when it comes to Italian crime cinema, but I was super excited to jump into The Climber as it came with solid recommendations from fans of the genre. Of course, it also helps when it gets a slick new release from Arrow Video (which includes a new 4K restoration) to get my hopes up. With these expectations, it’s hard not to feel slightly disappointed with the film itself as I sat with the credits rolling. The Climber is hardly a bad film, that is not my opinion at all, and for those looking for exciting action, questionable anti-heroes, and a story that runs the sequence on ‘young criminal with big ambitions’ then this film will certainly hit all the right buttons. However, The Climber is also a film that plays things fairly close to the chest and straight forward, only digging deeper than its plot to deliver a few commentaries. It’s entertaining, sure, but hardly the overlooked classic that so many seem to claim it to be.