The Exorcist III (1990)

William Peter Blatty's own sequel to THE EXORCIST (and adapted from his sequel novel Legion) gets a 4K upgrade and a two disc release (one UHD, one Blu-ray) from Arrow.

An aging Lieutenant Kinderman (George C Scott, replacing the by then late Lee J Cobb from the original) is investigating a series of murders in which the victims have been decapitated and the head of a religious icon put in their place. The killer has the same modus operandi as the Gemini killer, who went to the electric chair fifteen years ago.

When Kinderman's hospitalised friend Father Dyer (Ed Flanders) becomes the latest victim, he learns that there's an inmate of the psychiatric ward who claims he is the Gemini killer, and also that he has connections to a certain exorcism performed fifteen years ago.

Taking a completely different approach to EXORCIST II Blatty's sequel is filled with impressive imagery and an endearing central performance. However when the film was finished executives insisted on an exorcism being included which is why Nicol Williamson's Father Morning has been rather obviously shoehorned in. It's also why Jason Miller is in here as well, apparently, as originally all the Gemini's scenes were played by Brad Dourif (and very good he is too).

Arrow's two disc set kicks off with a UHD that features a 4K UHD presentation of a 2K restoration of EXORCIST III. There's a new commentary from academics Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson, an audio interview with Blatty, and a massive making of that at 104 minutes is nearly as long as the film itself.  There is also a stack of archival interviews with Blatty, Scott, Miller and others, a new interview with special effects artist Randy Moore, five minutes of bloopers and deleted scenes, a vintage making of and image galleries.

Disc two is a Blu-ray presentation of the original Blatty cut entitled LEGION, which was put together by the director and released under that title in 2016. This combines footage from the film with inserts from VHS tape, and has a different opening and ending. Unfortunately this was not provided for review but it does include a commentary track from Mark Kermode and Kim Newman.

THE EXORCIST III is out in a two disc UHD / Blu-ray combo pack from Arrow on Monday 7th October 2024

Interview with the Vampire Part II (2024)

Following its UK TV screening on BBC2, Acorn Media are releasing the eight-part second season of the TV adaptation of Anne Rice's INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE on Blu-ray, DVD and digital. They're also releasing a box set of the first two seasons, which is the best thing to get if you haven't seen season one, as you really need to before diving into this.

Season two carries straight on with the story, with Louis (Jacob Anderson) now relating his tale to Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) in the company of Armand (Assad Zaman). It's World War II and Louis and Claudia (now played by Delainey Hayes) are seeking more of their kind in Romania. They succeed, but it's in Paris, France where they get to properly meet more of their own kind at the Grand Guignol-style Theatre Des Vampires, which acts as a front for some very real bloodletting. It's also where Louis gets to meet Armand.

As with season one, INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE PART II (the onscreen title) is executed superbly - production design, photography and acting are all top notch, and even if the Anne Rice novel might not have been your thing it's still definitely worth giving the series a look as this really is as good as gothic television drama gets. 

Acorn's Blu-ray set spreads the eight episodes over three discs. Extras include a four minute pre-premiere look with brief interviews with some of the principal cast members, 'insider' featurettes for each episode which last between five to eight minutes, a behind the scenes featurette and a Making Of featurette ('Show Me More') that's 42 minutes, all of which include interviews with cast and crew. There's also a two minute blooper reel.

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE PART II is out on 

Blu-ray, DVD and digital from Acorn Media, 

as is a Season One and Two Box set on 

DVD and Blu-ray, on Monday 7th October 2024

Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

"Excellent Presentation of a Unique Sequel"

Fans of John Boorman's sequel to William Friedkin's original THE EXORCIST have a treat in store as Arrow releases a two disc Blu-ray set of both the original 118 minute US version and the shorter, re-edited 103 minute international cut.

It's four years since Regan MacNeil's possession by the demon Pazuzu and her subsequent exorcism by Father Merrin (Max Von Sydow), who died in the process. Now the Catholic church, represented by Paul Henreid's Cardinal, have decided to recruit Father Lamont (Richard Burton) to investigate the case and find out if some of Merrin's wilder claims were true.

Meanwhile Regan (Linda Blair) is undergoing hypnotherapy by Dr Gene Tuskin (Louise Fletcher) and her flashing light box. These therapies are conducted in the least confidential clinic room ever, where all the walls are made of glass and the many children that are presumably also Dr Tuskin's patients can see in when they're not being distracting by pushing large plush toys around or wheeling what looks like a huge soft sponge hexagon nut. 

Father Lamont straps on one of Dr Tuskin's leather headbands and joins in because Dr Tuskin doesn't seem to be too worried about medical ethics either. Soon he's seeing visions of locusts, Africa, and James Earl Jones. It seems Pazuzu is still 'deep within' Regan and that's because she is one of a number of people who have been born as 'forces for good'. This is explained in more detail using locusts as an analogy. Yes it is. Eventually Lamont and Regan end up back at the house from the first EXORCIST where we are treated to a climax of locusts as the building falls apart and it takes the surrounding neighbourhood ages to notice.

I can imagine back in 1977 Twentieth Century Fox arranging a screening of EXORCIST II for Mike Hodges, Stanley Mann, and other personnel and saying 'This is not how we want OMEN II to turn out - understand?' In fact it's a bit of a mystery why Warners thought they were onto a winner with this one (it received a massive release in the US) as, rather than John Boorman's proposed meditation on the power of good, EXORCIST II is a mess of incoherence, stultifying dullness, and laugh out loud Bad Film moments. Richard Burton looks understandably bewildered throughout, while Ennio Morricone's main theme is beautiful but doesn't fit with anything it's used to underscore. In fact Quentin Tarantino put it to better use in his 2015 THE HATEFUL EIGHT. What you do get is something fascinating to film students but perplexing and ultimately unsatisfying to the mainstream audience it was intended for.

Arrow's Blu-ray set brings us the full 118 minute version on disc one, with no fewer than four (!) commentary tracks. One is archival from John Boorman and the other three are academic - an archival one from Scott Michael Bosco and two new ones from Paul Kittredge and the late Lee Gambin, and Kelly Goodner and Jim Hemphill. The Boorman is best if you want explanations about why he made it, while the others all touch on different aspects of the film, with Kittredge and Gambin to be congratulated on their effusive enthusiasm while the Goodner and Hemphill is just as good if rather more restrained. Other extras include two archival interviews from 2018's Shout Factory release with Linda Blair (20 minute) and editor Tom Priestley (7 minutes).

Disc two has the international cut and a commentary track from Mike White who very helpfully points out the differences, although no-one will need any help spotting the cobbled together opening. Add in trailers and image galleries and it's quite the exhaustive (and exhausting) package.

John Boorman's EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC is out in a two disc Blu-ray set from Arrow on Monday 7th October 2024

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

"The Dead Get a UHD Upgrade"

       Oh yes, George A Romero's seminal nihilistic social commentary (that just happens to use flesh-hungry zombies as a major component in its conveyance of allegory) gets a reissue from Criterion in a three disc set - one 4K UHD disc and two Blu-rays.

       With seemingly every 'cult' movie over thirty years old getting either the 2K or 4K scan treatment these days, it's perhaps not surprising that arguably the cultiest of cult horror movies would end up getting a splendid double disc edition eventually. Still, to those of us old enough to still be marvelling at the existence of DVD let alone Blu-ray, the presence of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD in such a beautiful transfer and with so many extras really is a cause for celebration.

Is there anyone out there who doesn't know the plot? The recently deceased come back to life and start attacking and eating the living. There's mention of radiation from a returning Venus probe being the cause, but we all know that what sets the dead off doesn't actually matter. What does matter is that George A Romero was (and remains) one of that elite and treasured group of film-makers whose movies were strong on social conscience while still delivering the necessary thrills such that his horror projects, while filled with important and relevant subtext, were never overly preachy. 

Trapped in a farmhouse, a socially disparate group of people fight for survival, but, as is so often the case with Romero's projects, it's the humans who are each other's worst enemies, far more than the shambling threat lurking outside.

Reams and books (and reams of books, if there is such a thing) have been written about NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, so instead I'll just tell you all about Criterion's new package, which consists of one UHD disc and two Blu-rays. The first presents the film in a sparkling 4K transfer with uncompressed monoaural soundtrack. There are two audio commentaries as extras, both recorded in 1994. The first features Romero, co-writer John Russo and actor Karl Hardman, while the second had co-producer Russell Streiner and members of the cast. Also on disc one is the work print edit of the film with the title NIGHT OF ANUBIS accompanied by a six minute introduction from Russell Streiner.

Disc two is the same as disc one but on Blu-ray. Disc three has essentially the same extras as Criterion's 2018 release, which include: Light in the Darkness, a 23 minute piece made in 2017 and features Guillermo del Toro, Frank Darabont and Robert Rodriguez discussing the movie's cinematic importance. There's a never-before-seen 16mm reel of dailies featuring alternate takes not used in the film. Learning from Scratch is a 2017 12 minute talking head piece with John Russo remembers the Latent Image, the company that made the movie. Walking Like the Dead features cast and crew talking about what it was like to be zombies in the film. Tones of Terror is a fascinating piece on the library music that was used in the film. Limitations into Virtues is a new video essay on the style of the film.

There are also a number of archive interviews with Romero and actors Duane Jones and Judith Ridley, trailers, TV and radio spots. These include 20 minutes of edited highlight's from NBC's Tomorrow show, and a 2012 TIFF interview with Romero Also included in the package is a poster of an iconic image from the film, and on the reverse an essay entitled Mere Anarchy is Loosed by critic Stuart Klawans. Like so many of Criterion's releases, this is an essential package for any movie enthusiast's collection. 

George A Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is out in a three-disc UHD and Blu-ray set from Criterion on 

Monday 7th October 2024

Survive (2024)

"Well Executed French Post-Apocalypse Science Fiction"

After its UK premiere at this year's Frightfest, Frederic Jardin's really rather good French post-apocalypse movie gets a Digital release from Signature Entertainment.

Tom (Andreas Pietschmann) and his family are enjoying an ocean holiday on their boat when a worldwide apocalypse occurs. The magnetic poles are reversed causing all sea water to shift onto land and leaving the ocean beds as dry terrain. Marooned their one hope is to reach the bathysphere of oceanographer Nao (Olivier Ho Hio Hen) before, according to his instruments, the poles are to reverse again and the waters will come flooding back to their original position.

Don't worry too much about the science in SURVIVE. Instead just go with it because this is actually a very decent race against time post apocalypse thriller with some surprises along the way (which I'm not going to spoil). The landscape vistas are impressive and probably looked even more so on a cinema screen. 

It's a French movie, of course, so there's going to be urinating and nihilism but this is still a very good mashup of SF ideas, mainly riffing on Charles Eric Maine's fantastically bleak British SF novel The Tide Went Out. In fact SURVIVE is positively cheery compared with that so perhaps the nihilism comment is a bit excessive. But you can rely on there being some unexpected shocks along the way.

SURVIVE is an impressive piece of post-apocalypse cinema, so much so that it wouldn't be at all surprising if an American remake is in the works. By the time you get to the end you can imagine Roland Emmerich taking out his phone to contact Universal. Let's have a trailer:

Frederic Jardin's SURVIVE is out on Digital from Signature Entertainment on Monday 30th September 2024

Home Sweet Home: Where Evil Lives (2023)

"Effective One-Take German Shocker"

One of the best films from Frightfest 2023 gets a Digital release from Blue Finch.

Maria (Nilam Farooq) is heavily pregnant. As the sun is setting she arrives at the isolated country house she and her husband Viktor (David Kross) have bought with the intention of turning it into a Bed and Breakfast. Viktor is still busy at work and so she explores the property alone. In doing so she discovers a secret room in the basement filled with African artefacts and a worrying diary.

But that's not all. She's started bleeding and Viktor's father, a doctor, is on the way to the house to help her. Before he gets there Maria is witness to a horrific incident from the past, and after he arrives things get even worse.

Shot all in one take, HOME SWEET HOME: WHERE EVIL LIVES, hampered by a somewhat unwieldy title, is actually a supremely creepy ghost story, with some good scares and decent characterisation on an obviously low budget. Worth watching twice to appreciate the skill involved in getting some of the shots, because first time around you'll be too wrapped up in the what's going on. Here's a trailer:

HOME SWEET HOME: WHERE EVILS LIVES is out on Digital from Blue Finch Releasing on Monday 30th September 2024

Azrael: Angel of Death (2024)

 

"Seriously Decent Dialogue-Free Post Apocalypse Horror"

The latest film from director E L Katz (CHEAP THRILLS) and writer Simon Barrett (THE GUEST), and the best thing either of them have done since those movies, is getting a digital release from Signature Entertainment, with a disc release to follow.

In a grim post-apocalyptic world where pretty much nobody can speak, Samara Weaving manages to briefly make friends with a man before they are captured and taken to a miserable shanty town in the middle of the miserable forest in which the entire film takes place. She is tied to a chair, made to bleed and left as an offering for the burned anthropoid creatures that also inhabit the place. Samara escapes and someone else gets rather graphically ripped apart instead. 

She returns to the town where we slowly realise she has plans for the strange cult that exists there and in particular for its pregnant leader, leading to an eventual showdown amidst a conflagration.

There's a bit of explanatory text at the start of this that tells us we are in a post Rapture world and that some people have decided to render themselves unable to speak because they consider uttering words to be a sin. A scar on Weaving's neck suggests they have all undergone some sort of voluntary vocal cord surgery. The film doesn't actually need any of this and would quite likely be even more effective than it already is if there was less explanation rather than more, but it's there if you want it.

Otherwise AZRAEL: ANGEL OF DEATH is a surprisingly good, grim, post-apocalypse movie that goes in directions you don't expect, has some genuinely creepy and unpleasant scenes, and a climax that's just the right side of completely bonkers that must have made this one a hit on the festival circuit (it played at this year's Frightfest). Weaving, with her expressive eyes, is spot on casting for the lead and yes, apart from a few words in a foreign language, the film is essentially dialogue-free, instead relying entirely on its well put together visuals. Definitely worth catching. Time for a trailer:

AZRAEL: ANGEL OF DEATH is out on Digital from Signature Entertainment on Monday 30th September 2024 with a DVD and Blu-ray release planned for Monday 28th October 2024