The Burning (1981)

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JustWatch Streaming Info | imdb | trailer

Naughty teen campers pull a prank and the victim returns for revenge. End of plot. There aren’t a lot of teen slasher movies I like, but this one is solid. It’s really straight forward, but if you enjoy ‘80s horror and have missed this, you’ll probably appreciate it. I’ve seen The Burning a few times, including a film print, and have always had a good time. Tom Savini turned down working on Friday the 13th Part 2 for this film, so you know the makeup FX are quality. Plus you get to see Jason Alexander (George from Seinfeld) with a full head of hair, and an early, very brief, appearance from Holly Hunter. So have a few drinks (or whatever floats your boat), turn off all higher brain functions, and enjoy some early ‘80s horror cheese.

Available on UHD/Blu-ray from Scream Factory.

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We Own the Night (2007)

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JustWatch Streaming Info | imdb | trailer

Mark Wahlberg is a cop, his brother (Joaquin Phoenix) is a nightclub owner. The mighty Robert Duvall is their deputy police chief dad. The Russian mob complicates matters. Blood is shed. Cars are chased. This is not the greatest action / crime film ever made, but it is damn good entertainment. The car chase is probably the best of the mid-2000s. We Own the Night is worth a watch for that alone.

Available on Blu-ray from Sony Pictures.

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El testigo (2018)

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JustWatch Streaming Info | imdb | trailer (in Spanish – no subtitles – sorry)

In this excellent documentary journalist Jesús Abad Colorado revisits his photographs of the war in Colombia and the people connected to those images. There is as a lot of darkness and some hope to be seen. The only potential flaw of this film is that it’s rather short. Considering how so many movies are unnecessarily over two hours long, maybe it shouldn’t be considered a flaw to be less than 90 minutes. This feels like it was edited down just right. At the time I am writing this, El testigo has zero critic or user reviews on IMDb. That’s a damn shame as I give this doc my most enthusiastic recommendation.

Not available on Blu-ray.

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Revanche (2008)

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An ex-con does a bank robbery to try and help his prostitute girlfriend. A police officer who attempts to stop him starts off a chain of events that intertwines their lives. This is a really good artsy crime drama from Austria that I don’t want to tell you too much about. It’s bloodless, but does feature a lot of nudity, and has an unpredictable plot. I really enjoyed Revanche, so give it a try if you want to see a good neo-noir film.

Available on Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.

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Crippled Avengers (1978)

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JustWatch Streaming Info | imdb | trailer (in SHAWSCOPE!!!)

The Venom Mob is back again for a much weirder adventure. This is not a sequel to The Five Deadly Venoms, but one of many Shaw Brothers films featuring those core actors. Four men are disabled by an evil martial arts master, so naturally they are taught to use their handicaps to get revenge. This movie is almost non-stop crazy action from the start, and a fan-favorite Shaw flick. This would make an excellent double bill with Accione Mutante (the new disc is HIGHLY recommended).

Available on Blu-ray from Arrow (part of the Shawscope Vol 1 Box).

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L.A. Confidential (1997)

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Back in post-WW2 America everything was just peachy. There was nothing but prosperity and apple pie family values from sea to shining sea, right? Sorry pal. As author Katherine Dunn said, “there were no good old days.” The grim side of life was just hidden from mainstream society. L.A. Confidential taps into that and cranks it all the way up. I remember this gritty crime film blowing my mind when I first saw it in the theater. It’s dark, complex, violent, and has a fantastic cast. What are you waiting for?

Available on Blu-ray from 20th Century Fox.

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The Mist (2007)

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JustWatch Streaming Info | imdb | trailer

This is the original movie version of Stephen King’s 1980 novella. I skipped the recent TV series because of the poor ratings. What we have here is neither the best, nor the worst King adaptation. I’d rate The Mist above average among those films. Why the hell am I recommending this? Well, it is creepy as hell if you don’t know what is going on in the plot. At least that was my experience when first seeing the movie. I took a look recently, and it still looked good, in spite of some slightly dated CG. Bottom line, if you missed this one and haven’t read the book, there’s a decent chance you’ll enjoy it.

Available on Blu-ray from ummm… well it’s available anyhow.

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Citizen X (1995)

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Streaming on Max | imdb | trailer

This is possibly my favorite ’90s dramatization of a true crime case. Andrei Chikatilo was known as The Rostov Ripper, and was responsible for the murders of at least 52 women and children. This film is based on “The Killer Department,” which remains one of the best true crime books I’ve ever read. Citizen X is helped a ton by strong performances by Stephen Rea, Donald Sutherland, Jeffrey DeMunn, and Max Von Sydow. Don’t expect much gore, but the drama is extremely dark and should appeal to anyone with an interest in true crime. It’s stunning this was an HBO-made TV movie.

Not available on Blu-ray.

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Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

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I liked this image so much I couldn’t crop it.

JustWatch Streaming Info | imdb | trailer

Rosemary and her husband move in to a fancy but weird Manhattan apartment. Once she becomes pregnant, things take an extremely dark turn. I have hesitated to recommend Rosemary’s Baby as it’s on so many critic lists. However I wouldn’t be surprised if many younger people have overlooked this film. Another part of my hesitation is the fact that director Roman Polanski is a terrible human being (and many people believe that star Mia Farrow is no saint either). I recently heard someone say that great art becomes it’s own entity once it is completed. That entity stands apart from the flawed, sometimes awful, human being that made it. Yep, this film is great art. It’s one of the most beautifully crafted horror films ever made. That horror stays on the psychological end of the spectrum, but I love every minute of it. This movie demands to be seen in spite of the flawed humans involved.

Available on Blu-ray from Paramount.

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Commando (1985)

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JustWatch Streaming Info | imdb | trailer

I was a big Arnie fan as a kid. This is mostly because of Conan (1982) and The Terminator (1984). Unfortunately he was in as many crappy movies as good ones back in the 80s. Conan the Destroyer, Red Sonja, Raw Deal and Red Heat are not good uses of Schwarzenegger. This film, while not even close to his best, is firmly in the middle of his 1980s work. It’s dumb. Really dumb. Eve-rollingly dumb. However, it is also fast-paced, big, fun, and ridiculously violent. If you’ve never experienced this film, and are capable of turning your higher brain functions off, you’re in for a good time. Speaking of the ‘80s… if you look around in the torrentverse you can probably find the TV movie The Jayne Mansfield Story. Arnold plays her husband Mickey Hargitay (Mariska’s dad) and Loni Anderson (from WKRP – a childhood favorite TV series) is Jayne. It’s surprisingly good. Also a bit dumb, but honestly worth seeing.

Available on Blu-ray from 20th Century Fox.

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