Diry Mary, Crazy Larry / Race with the Devil (2011, Shout! Factory)

Coming from Shout! Factory on April 12th, 2011 is an Action-Packed Double Feature of Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry and Race with the Devil.  Both films were originally released by Anchor Bay back in 2005 and have since gone out of print.  It is great to see them re-released again, especially by Shout! who handles every release with the highest of standards.  Not to mention the fact that Anchor Bay's Race with the Devil had possibly the ugliest and cheapest DVD cover I've ever seen (see the travesty HERE).  Anyway, with two films starring Peter Fonda, not to mention Dirty Mary featuring the beautiful and always fun to watch Susan George and Race with the Devil starring the great Warren Oates, this set is a must!

1974's Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry follows an ex-Nascar racer (Fonda) who, along with his mechanic Deke (Adam Roarke), rob a grocery store owner by holding his family for ransom.  After getting the money, they take off to re-join the racing circuit.  Mary (George), a foul-mouthed groupie with nothing going on in her life, manages to trick them into letting her tag along.  Soon, the cops are hot on their trail but Larry's driving skills make them hard to catch.  Enter Police Captain Franklin (Vic Morrow), who takes the matter into his own hands after several failed chases and road block attempts.

1975's Race with the Devil stars Warren Oates as Frank, the owner of a motorcycle shop and Peter Fonda as his friend Roger, a racer.  They decide to go on vacation together (along with Roger's girlfriend and Frank's wife) in Frank's new RV.  The first night of their trip, instead of staying in an RV park, they decide to find a nice secluded spot in the middle of nowhere for some peace and quiet.  Roger and Frank go to explore some strange noises they hear not too far from their spot and end up witnessing a satanic ritual which ends in a human sacrifice.  They are spotted by the devil worshippers and barely make it out alive.  After alerting the local police, they continue their vacation but soon find themselves being hunted by the cult.

This Action-Packed double feature is a great slice of 70's drive-in heaven.  Other than Peter Fonda, the only real similarities between the films are several exciting car chases.  Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry is basically one long car chase, with a few bumps along the way.  Fonda and George are great as a pair of feuding ex-lovers and the car stunts are out of this world.  Vic Morrow is another highlight of the film, especially his helicopter chase scene at the end.  The sharply written (and very dated, but in a good way) dialogue makes the characters stand out and saves the film from being just a series of car explosions.  Race with the Devil is part of one of my favorite horror sub-genres - occult horror.  Though definitely not just a horror film, Race features several death defying car (or RV) chases too.  Basically an occult horror, car chase mystery with very few gaps in action.  The cast is top notch all around and the story is filled with several twists and turns, making the viewer unsure of every character that pops up.  Of the two, I would say Race with the Devil is the stronger film but they are both very entertaining and worthy of a re-release.  This 2 disc set includes a ton of special features (commentaries, interviews, trailers, TV spots and radio spots) and beautiful Anamorphic Widescreen Transfers.  Another excellent release from Shout! Factory.

RATING:


Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry - 8/10
Race with the Devil - 9/10

Pre-Order now from Shout! Factory HERE - release date 4/12/2011

The Perfume of the Lady in Black (1974, Francesco Barilli)

For the first time in the USA, we finally get a DVD release of Fracesco Barilli's psychological giallo, The Perfume of the Lady in Black (Il Profumo della signora in nero) from  Raro Video.  Starring the beautiful Mimsy Farmer (Four Flies on Grey Velvet), I really didn't know what to expect from the film.  Is it horror?  Is it an art flick?  Is it good?  Well, I'm here to answer all of these questions and more.

The Perfume of the Lady in Black has Ms. Farmer as Silvia Hacherman, an industrial scientist who just might be going crazy.  She attends a party with her boyfriend Roberto (Maurizio Bonuglia) at the home of an African professor, whose talk of voodoo greatly disturbs Silvia.  Though the professor reveals it all as a joke, Silvia's psyche starts to unravel as she begins having disturbingly realistic flashbacks of her childhood.  After more strange incidents occur, she starts to think that maybe someone is trying to drive her crazy.  Eventually, Silvia loses all grip on sanity and starts seeing a younger version of herself along with the man who raped her mother. 

Frequently lumped in with giallo films (as I myself did in the first paragraph), The Perfume of the Lady in Black is a little harder to define.  Part giallo/horror film, part psychological mystery and part arthouse film - there is just so much going on to categorize it under one genre.  One thing that is for sure is that pretty much every aspect of this film is beautiful to watch.  Even the more shocking scenes have a lush and vibrant quality to them that makes it hard to take your eyes off the screen.  Mimsy Farmer also has a natural and innocent beauty that helps the film.  Going beyond how good it looks, the story itself is quite interesting too.  Though it's not the first film to follow a woman on a descent into madness, it definitely throws a few curve balls along the way that keeps you guessing until the end.  As far as the horror aspects of the film, the gore is kept to a minimum other than one shocking scene that will make horror hounds cringe as they are howling for more.  Raro Video previously released this title in Italy several years ago and it is great to have it available domestically.  As with Raro's other releases, it is obvious that the company took great care in releasing a fine product.  The transfer is out of this world and it includes both Italian (with English subs) and English language options.  Also included is a nice little documentary on the film, with director interviews as well as a nifty little booklet.  Overall, a great release for a nice little film that is sure to please psychological horror fans.

RATING:  8/10

Sledgehammer - first ever 'Shot on Video' slasher film coming to DVD from Intervision

Sledgehammer
DVD
Label: Intervision Picture Corp
Pre-book: 04/12/11.  Streets: 05/10/11.  SRP: 19.95
UPC#: 063390095629 Cat#: INT1106.  Run Time: 85 Minutes.  In English
Color.  Fullscreen 1.33:1.  Region Zero.  Mono.

Directed by David A. Prior  Stars: Ted Prior, Linda McGill, John Eastman, Janine Scheer, Tim Aquilar, Sandy Brooke, Stephen Wright. 

Production Year: 1983

Intervision is proud to present the return of the first shot-on-tape slasher movie for the home video market as well as one of the rarest genre films of all! The plot is familiar: A group of friends comes to party at a backwoods house where a legacy of brutality awaits. But within this minimalist '80s melange of food fights, feathered hair and abusive slow-motion lurks a relentless synth score, bizarre sexual subtexts and a disturbing shape-shifting behemoth killer. The result is 87 minutes of fever-dream depravity, now loaded with brand-new Bonus Features that put it all in skull-shattering perspective. Former Playgirl centerfold Ted Prior (RAW NERVE, DEADLY PREY) stars in this nightmare-logic shocker from writer/ director David A. Prior (KILLER WORKOUT) where the lines between twisted horror and historic gore are pounded to a pulp...by SLEDGEHAMMER.

Bonus Features include:  Audio Commentary With Director David A. Prior, Audio Commentary With Bleeding Skull Creators Joseph A. Ziemba, and Dan Budnik. 

Hammertime: Featurette With DESTROY ALL MOVIES!!!  Author Zack Carlson SledgehammerLand: Featurette With Cinefamily Programmers Hadrian Belove And Tom Fitzgerald. Interview With Director David A. Prior

Bob Dylan: The Never Ending Narrative 1990 - 2006 (2011, MVD)

Of course everyone knows Bob Dylan.  One of the most important musicians of the past 50 years, he has reinvented himself many times.  Dylan has gone through career highs and lows since he first started performing and this film nicely details the latter 15 or so years of his career.  As a fan of rock documentaries, seeing one on Dylan would seem like no big deal but it is great when the focus is put on a very specific point in the artist's career - especially one that most people don't know too much about.

In 1990, Bob Dylan released Under the Red Sky, the follow up to the critically acclaimed Oh Mercy.  Under the Red Sky garnered poor reviews for its simple, nursery rhyme lyrics.  Two years later, Dylan returned with a more favorable collection of old blues covers titled Good As I Been to You.  This trend continued with one more album and a well received performance on MTV Unplugged.  By the late 90's and the release of Time Out of Mind, Dylan was getting the best reviews since the mid 70's and his popularity was at a career high.  This documentary tracks Dylan's highs and lows starting with 1990's Under the Red Sky all the way through 2006's Modern Times.

MVD has succeeded in another brilliant documentary on an important musical figure.  A knowledgeable group of some of the leading rock authors and critics (Rolling Stone's Anthony De Curtis, author Clinton Heylin, and many more) pick apart an important and exciting time in Bob Dylan's career.  No stone is left unturned in this informative journey through Dylan's resurrection as one of the most famous musical legends in the world.  The documentary also features many rare interviews and performance footage, making it a must see for any music fan.

RATING:  9/10

Pre Order this disc HERE - release date 4/19/2011

Georgia Peaches / The Great Texas Dynamite Chase / Smokey Bites the Dust (2011, Shout! Factory)

Coming April 5, 2011 is an Action Packed Triple Feature from Shout! Factory's Roger Corman Cult Classics line.  Included in this 2 DVD set is 1980's Georgia Peaches, 1976's The Great Texas Dynamite Chase and 1981's Smokey Bites the Dust.  This release marks the return to DVD of The Great Texas Dynamite Chase, formerly available under Roger Corman's New Horizons, but more importantly it brings the first ever DVD releases for Georgia Peaches and Smokey Bites the Dust.  I have been interested in seeing Great Texas Dynamite Chase for a long time and honestly had never even heard of the other two films so it is very exciting to have them all here in one very inexpensive set.

Georgia Peaches features country legend Tanya Tucker and Teri Nunn (lead singer of the 80's pop band Berlin) as Lorette and Sue Lynn Peach, who are trying to save their deceased father's car repair shop from being taken over by crime boss Vivian Stark (Sally Kirkland) who wants the build on the land.  The two sisters, along with Sue Lynn's hot rod racing, moonshine running boyfriend Dusty Tyree (Dirk Benedict) are set up by Stark and put in jail.  They are soon let out by an agent for the Treasury Department, Randolph Dukane (Lane Smith), in order to go undercover to try to sabotage a cigarette smuggling ring.

The Great Texas Dynamite Chase is the story of Ellie Jo Turner (Jocelyn Jones from Tourist Trap and The Enforcer), a bank teller who is sick of her job and her life.  Prison escapee Candy Morgan (Claudia Jennings from Deathsport) robs the bank Elllie Jo works at and instead of trying to stop her, Ellie Jo ends up assisting Candy and they escape together.  Ellie Jo and Candy become partners and rob a series of banks by using sticks of dynamite to threaten the bank employees.

Smokey Bites the Dust stars Jimmy McNichol (Kristy McNichol's brother) as Roscoe Wilton, a young trouble maker who likes fast cars and has the hots for homecoming queen Peggy Sue Turner (Janet Julian).  At their homecoming dance, Roscoe kidnaps Peggy Sue and tells her that he won't let her go until she likes him.  Peggy Sue's father happens to be the Sheriff (Walter Barnes), who immediately goes after the two teens.  As Roscoe and Peggy Sue outrun Smokey (slang term for policeman), an all out race begins involving cops from the surrounding towns.  These cops though seem more interested in capturing the Sheriff (who manages to demolish every car he gets behind the wheel of) than the young kidnapper.  Also on their tail is the high school quarterback (William Forsythe), who is in love with Peggy Sue.

What we have here in this collection is a silly group of movies that, despite some minor flaws, are 100% fun.  Georgia Peaches was originally a TV pilot for a proposed series that never materialized.  The actual film on the DVD sports the title Follow That Car, which was the European theatrical cut of the film (there is a note in the set stating that this was the only version available).  Georgia Peaches has a lot going for it - fun characters, great car chases and a fun story that you find yourself way more immersed in than you should be.  The scenes with the sisters singing on stage are hilariously bad and dated but Tucker and Nunn are very easy on the eyes (despite their gawdy outfits).  Dirk Benedict also shines as Dusty.  The Great Texas Dynamite Chase is probably the best of the lot and the most "Corman-esque" with oodles of nudity and violence.  The beautiful Claudia Jennings, a Corman regular, shows that she was actually quite a good actress and it was a shame that she passed away at such a young age.  A very clever and original bank robbery tale, this one should please any exploitation and action film fan.  Smokey Bites the Dust is one hell of a weird film.  The plot is so simple (and bares more than a passing resemblance to Corman's Eat My Dust!) that to keep it interesting, the film makers threw in everything but the kitchen sink.  We see midgets, gorillas, bratty underage kids smoking cigarettes, arabian sheiks...weird, weird stuff.  The highlight of the film (other than its oddness) is definitely the car chases which I can't say I have seen many films with more car crashes and explosions.  The cast itself doesn't really standout but seeing a young William Forsythe as a super religious quarterback just added to the zaniness of this movie.  For fans of car crashes and strange films.

Overall, this set is a great addition to the Corman Cult Classics line and even if you don't have much interest in Georgia Peaches or Smokey Bites the Dust (which are definitely fun films and worth a watch), get it for The Great Texas Dynamite Chase.

RATING:
Georgia Peaches:  8/10
The Great Texas Dynamite Chase:  8/10
Smokey Bites the Dust:  7/10

This set is available to pre-order directly from Shout! Factory HERE .  Release date 4/5/11

Embodiment of Evil and Dorm that Dripped Blood - coming from Synapse!

Embodiment Of Evil
RELEASE DATE: 03/29/11.   Blu-ray & DVD Combo pack
Run Time: 94 Minutes.  In Portuguese, Subtitled in English
Color.  Widescreen Anamorphic 1.85:1.  DTS 5.1 HD

After serving a 40-year prison term, Coffin Joe is finally released from the Mental Heath wing of the Sa~o Paulo State Penitentiary. Back on the streets, the sadistic undertaker is set upon fulfilling the goal which sent him to jail in the first place: find a woman who can give him the perfect child. Accompanied by his faithful servant, the humpbacked Bruno, Coffin Joe leaves behind a trail of horror and is haunted by ghostly visions and the spirits of his past victims.  This is the third film of the "Coffin Joe Trilogy" which began with the classic "At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul" (1964) and "This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse" (1967). Synapse Films is proud to present "Embodiment of Evil" in a beautiful high-definition transfer created from the original camera negative with amazing 5.1 surround sound.

Bonus Features: Theatrical Trailer, Footage of the Fantasia Film Festival North American Premiere, "Making of" Featurette.

THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD
  RELEASE DATE: APRIL 26TH
DVD / BLU-RAY COMBO.  Color.  88 Minutes.
Widescreen Anamorphic 1.66:1.  PCM Mono

On the eve of Christmas vacation, a college dormitory stands condemned... the dark halls now vacant and unsafe. Student Joanne Murray and her close friends volunteer to help close down the building, unaware a psychopathic lunatic is hiding in the shadows.  As the students disappear one by one, Joanne discovers the horrifying reality that if she is to survive, she alone will have to find a way to slay the brutal murderer. If you think you've seen this film totally uncut, think again!  Synapse Films is proud to present THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD in a never-before-seen alternate version containing additional scenes, extended gore sequences, and a different sound mix.  This transfer was created from the only existing 35mm answer print of the original "Directors' Cut" entitled DEATH DORM, a version of the film thought to have been lost for over thirty years.  BONUS FEATURES INCLUDE: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.66:1) Transfer of the "Directors' Cut"; Audio Commentary Featuring Directors Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter; Interviews with Composer Christopher Young and Make-Up FX Creator Matthew Mungle; Original Theatrical Trailers.

 

Wake Wood coming from Hammer films and Vertigo Films

A new horror film called Wake Wood is coming soon from Hammer films and Vertigo films.  This one looks very creepy!  WAKE WOOD will be released Friday March 25th in cinemas and on Video-On-Demand across the UK and will be available on DVD from Monday the 28th.  The film will be hitting DVD and Blu-Ray in the US on June 28th 2011.   Go HERE for more info.

Check out the trailer below: