The Invisible Man (2020)

"Masterful Reimagining"

Leigh Whannell's cracking interpretation of a classic horror concept comes to Digital Download to own, 4KUHD, Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

 Cecilia Kass (Elizabeth Moss) escapes her abusive relationship with rich optics company founder Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) only to learn two weeks later that he has apparently committed suicide. Adrian's lawyer brother Tom (Michael Dorman) informs Cecilia that Adrian has left his fortune to her, to be paid at regular intervals provided she commits no crime and is not declared insane.

It's not long before strange things begin to happen. Cecilia goes for a job interview and her portfolio has disappeared. Her sister Emily (Harriet Dyer) claims Cecilia has sent her a hateful email. And why does it feel as if there's frequently someone watching her?

Jettisoning everything from the H G Wells source novel (the poor old author doesn't even get a credit) except for the concept - which is now due to a piece of advanced tech rather that a drug - and the surname Griffin for the man who wields it, Leigh Whannell's film is a splendid updating of a concept that hasn't been filmed seriously since a couple of short-lived TV series of the 1970s (one with David McCallum, the other - Gemini Man - with Ben Murphy). 

Combining elements of the stalker thriller with sequences suggestive of John Carpenter at his most HALLOWEEN-esque, the entire endeavour is rounded off a treat by a superb central performance by Moss, who anchors the whole film and makes it believable. The action sequences are as well constructed as one might expect from the director of the excellent UPGRADE and if you're a fan of the Whannell-written SAW series look out for a special in-joke just for you at around the 90 minute mark. 

Extras on Universal's Blu-ray include 14 minutes of deleted scenes, a ten minute featurette with Leigh Whannell and shorter pieces on Elizabeth Moss and the other actors. There's also a feature-length commentary by Whannell but this was not provided for review. 

Leigh Whannell's THE INVISIBLE MAN is out on digital for purchase on Friday 19th June 2020 and 4KUHD, Blu-ray and DVD from Monday 29th June 2020. 

Dream Demon (1988)

"A Bit of a Nightmare"

Anyone active in the UK horror scene in the late 1980s will likely remember the critical vilification with which Harley Cokeliss' DREAM DEMON was met, both from major publications and the fanzine world, partly because everyone had been promised the British NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, but mainly because it just wasn't terribly good. Now Harley Cokeliss (dubbed Harley CockUp in more than one review of the time) is back, introducing this, his re-edited cut of DREAM DEMON, which has been given a smart new presentation from Arrow with loads of extras. Does it deserve this special attention?

Primary school teacher, English rose and heir to millions Diana (oh what a giveaway) is due to marry Falklands hero Oliver (Jemma Redgrave and Mark Greenstreet respectively). She keeps having nightmares her psychiatrist (the late Susan Fleetwood, best known to readers here as Athena from 1981's CLASH OF THE TITANS) believes is due to stress. Diana's nightmares become increasingly sub Elm Street and she joins forces with perky / annoying Kathleen Wilhoite and together they solve the mystery while being pursued by Timothy Spall and Jimmy Nail (who doesn't sing - that would come a couple of years after this).

Even with re-editing DREAM DEMON isn't that great. The good news is that it's no worse (and actually a bit better) than some of the fare Arrow have been providing us with lately (eg Nico Mastorakis' back catalogue) so if you liked those you'll probably like this. I certainly didn't feel the sense of rage with which I left the cinema back in 1988 but an awful lot of cinema has passed before these eyes since then, so perhaps my youthful anger with what is basically a sub-par NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET ripoff was a little misjudged. 

Arrow's Blu-ray has a wealth of extras. First off there's the original cinema version for anyone who fancies a (re) watch. There's a new 27 minute interview with director Harley Cokeliss and a 37 minute one with producer Paul Webster. Cokeliss and Webster also contribute a feature commentary track. There are also new interviews with star Jemma Redgrave (15 minutes) actors Mark Greenstreet, Annabelle Lanyon and Nickolas Grace (9 minutes each), composer Bill Nelson (15 minutes), and a contemporary making of from 1988. As usual there's a trailer and image gallery and the first pressing has a booklet with new writing from Anne Bilson (who wrote the novelisation which isn't bad at all) and Harley Cokeliss.

DREAM DEMON is out on Blu-ray from Arrow Films on Monday 22nd June 2020

Criss Cross (1949)

"Excellent Siodmak Noir"

The film director Robert Siodmak made just after CRY OF THE CITY (1948) gets a Blu-ray release of a new 4K scan courtesy of Eureka.

Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster) returns to Los Angeles having finally got over his now ex-wife Anna (Yvonne DeCarlo). He gets a job as an armoured car driver but just can't help going back to the bar where Anna hangs out. She's now married to mob boss Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea) but that doesn't stop Steve and Anna from rekindling old passions. 

In an attempt to convince Dundee there's nothing going on Steve claims he only contacted Anna to meet Dundee, whose help he needs to rob an armoured car Steve will be driving that's filled with payroll money. Does the heist work? Do people double cross each other? Do Anna and Steve end up together? 

Robert Siodmak is known to horror fans for directing Universal's SON OF DRACULA (1943) but he came into his own directing thrillers and film noirs like PHANTOM LADY (1944), THE KILLERS (1946)  and THE DARK MIRROR (1946). The director himself claimed that only about five minutes of any one film of his was any good. You'll probably be able to tell which bits he was referring to in CRISS CROSS but that's doing the rest of this film a disservice. Burt Lancaster is excellent as the lovesick Thompson while Yvonne De Carlo doesn't always get to grips with the lines but certainly looks the part. Oh, and there's a cracking score from the marvellous Miklos Rozsa.

Eureka's 4K scan sparkles - CRISS CROSS has never looked this good. Extras on the disc include a commentary track by Lee Gambin and Rutanya Alda and a new video piece on the film by Adrian Martin. There's also a booklet featuring new writing on the film by Kat Ellinger and Adam Batty as well as reprint articles and stills.

Robert Siodmak's CRISS CROSS is out on Blu-ray from Eureka on Monday 22nd June 2020

Bloodshot (2020)

"UPGRADE Upgraded?"

Vin Diesel continues his bid to be the biggest action star of the 21st century with this science-fiction actioner from first time feature director David S F Wilson, getting a 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD release from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

After a gruelling day rescuing hostages in a third world country, soldier Ray Garrison (Diesel) is relaxing with his wife in the kind of Italian hotel where Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan are probably downstairs doing Roger Moore impersonations. But before either can raise an eyebrow Ray and his wife have been abducted, tortured and shot. They Ray wakes up.

Or rather, he's brought back to life by one-armed (he's got a cybernetic limb instead) Dr Emil Harting (Guy Pearce) who tells Ray he's been reanimated by being infused with nano technology. He's also now virtually indestructible, as every time he's injured the nanobots flowing through his veins can  rebuild him. Ray escapes the high tech institution and hunts down his wife's killers. But that's just the beginning of the story.

Based on the series of Valiant comic books, and very much in the spirit of Leigh Whannell's (superior) UPGRADE, BLOODSHOT has more money, more stars and more stunts (the climax is especially over the top) but it's missing the emotional core that made Whannell's film so effective. That said, if you fancy a couple of hours of explosions, stunts and Vin growling you could do a lot worse than this. Extras on Sony's Blu-ray include two minutes of out-takes, a ten minute featurette on directing the film and another of similar length on the cast. You also get twelve minutes of deleted scenes and an alternate ending, which has the option to be played with a director's commentary. There is no commentary track for the main feature. 

BLOODSHOT is out from Sony on 4KUHD, Blu-ray and DVD on Monday 8th June 2020. It's already available on digital download. 

I See You (2019)

"Excellent"

One of those films that's very difficult to review as it's best watched pretty much cold, Adam Randall's very fine thriller indeed gets a UK Blu-ray release courtesy of Arrow Films.

In a small town children are disappearing, and the method of abduction seems to be the same as that of a paedophile convicted for the crimes fifteen years ago and who is still in prison. That's not the only problem Detective Greg Harper (Jon Tenney) is currently having to deal with. His wife (Helen Hunt) has recently had an affair, their teenaged son Connor (Judah Lewis) is acting out as a result, and on top of all that, strange inexplicable things are happening in the family house.

I SEE YOU works very well indeed, and the credit for that can be given to its director. In lesser hands the complex interweaving and piling up of incident upon incident might have the viewer questioning some of the less believable aspects, but it's all so skilfully put together that such questions only occur after the film has finished. It's a clever piece of work and definitely worth catching up with and as I've said above, you really shouldn't read any more about it before watching. It's also likely you'll learn a new word (I certainly did).

Arrow's Blu-ray comes with a commentary track from Adam Randall and producer Matt Waldeck. There's also a making of and separate interviews with Helen Hunt and Randall. You also get a featurette on the filming of the opening scene, trailers and an image gallery. The first pressing of the disc comes with a booklet featuring new writing on the film from Anton Bitel. There's a warning at the start which I'll reiterate - don't read it before watching the film!  

Adam Randall's I SEE YOU is out on Blu-ray from Arrow Films on Monday 25th May 2020

The Final Wish (2018)

"Wish it Away!!"

Lin Shaye stars in The Final Wish, a movie co-written by Jeffrey Reddick (who gave us FINAL DESTINATION) and also featuring Tony Todd. It's getting a UK Digital HD release from Signature Entertainment.

Down on his luck lawyer Aaron (Michael Welch) returns to the small town of his birth for his father's funeral. His father collected curious objects and one of them, an ornate bowl found in Iraq, houses a demon capable of granting wishes. Of course, each wish comes at a price, with the biggest horrible surprise reserved for when you've made enough of them.

THE FINAL WISH should be a lot better than it is. Lin Shaye is fine as Aaron's mother, as is Tony Todd who turns up as the expository librarian. The rest of the acting is passable with the exception of Melissa Bolona who really should ask for her money back from any acting classes she paid for. 

Shots are framed well and there's some interesting use of coloured lighting. The reason I'm saying something nice about those things is because the direction on the whole is quite terrible, exhibiting little sense of how to tell a story like this. Scenes of possible suspense are presented more like an advert for washing up liquid, the camera lingers on pointless things for far too long, and the movie quickly veers into 'shout at the screen' territory. 

And that's a great shame because a horror film about wishes going wrong, with those headlining actors and some great design and set dressing (Aaron's father's house looks like something out of Night Gallery or an Amicus film and it's all wasted wasted wasted) should be fantastic and it's just awful. It's taken a while for THE FINAL WISH to get a release and it's not surprising. However, if you're looking for a night of so bad it's good entertainment, this is probably the one to go for this week.

THE FINAL WISH is out on Digital HD from Signature Entertainment on Monday 25th May 2020

Blood Tide (1982)

There are virgin sacrifices and an ancient sea monster in Arrow's latest Blu-ray release in its Nico Mastorakis collection. He didn't direct BLOOD TIDE (Richard Jefferies gets the honours) but he did co-write and co-produce.

Neil (Martin Kove from THE KARATE KID) and his wife Sherry (Mary Louise Weller) are searching for Neil's sister Madeline (Deborah Shelton, who gets an 'Introducing' credit here despite having already appeared in 1977 Greek sleazefest DANGEROUS CARGO before appearing in a lot of US TV including 63 episodes of Dallas).

They arrive on a remote Greek island that was Madeline's last known whereabouts. Jose Ferrer tries to make them leave. James Earl Jones is grumpy too, but that's because he wants all the underwater treasure he's busy looting for himself. He blows up the entrance to a cave, releasing an ancient demon that demands virgin sacrifices but seems to be happy to make do with anyone female.

There's the kernel of a good idea in BLOOD TIDE, plus some decent shots, great locations and a good cast, but sadly overall the film never really gets going.  What it really needed was taking to pieces back in the editing room, followed by complete reassembly and a new score and it might have been halfway decent. In fact in these times of coronavirus with so many doing jigsaw puzzles to pass the isolation time here's one film that really could have done with a 'do your own edit' feature. Maybe competitions could have been run for who could come up with the best version. All this and more will no doubt be going through your mind as the film runs through its regular cycle of something slightly interesting happening on screen, followed by nothing at all for several minutes. 

Arrow's Blu-ray comes with a commentary track from director Jefferies and a thirty minute interview with Mastorakis who is his usual ebullient self. You also get a couple of trailers, a reversible sleeve and the first pressing contains notes by Michael Gingold.

BLOOD TIDE is out on Blu-ray from Arrow on Monday 25th May 2020