My Compelling Argument Against the Robocop Remake...

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Hollywood: What are your Prime Directives? 
G.I. BatIronJoeCop-Man: Serve the mainstream cattle audience trust, disservice the original, uphold the box office.

Some screenshots from the rare U.S. DVD of Home Sweet Home (1980)

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Here's a budget DVD released back in 2006 by an outfit called "Hollywood Entertainment" that flew under the radar. Nettie Peña's 1980 slasher is really only known for two things. Before there was enough chatter after Eli Roth's Thanksgiving trailer in Grindhouse (2007) for the video market to crank out a couple junky holiday-themed horror flicks, Home Sweet Home (aka Slasher in the House) was only example in the genre that actually took place on the day gullets are stuffed with turkey and mashed potatoes.

Who began the mayhem in such of a time of excess and family tension around the dinner table? An escaped mental patient raging on PCP played by the musclebound Jake Steinfeld. The voice and physique behind Body by Jake weight loss programs and fitness equipment. Other than those aspects, this stuffy outing from the early '80s slasher boom isn't as bad as the IMDB 3.5/10 suggests, but its drift into obscurity is probably due to its extremely formulaic delivery. Still, I've watched it a few times over the years since finding the old VHS.

I found this out-of-print DVD at a yard sale this morning and almost didn't pick it up since the terrible cover looks nothing like the original Media Home Entertainment VHS box (seen here at VHSCollector.com). The presentation here is very similar to that old murky tape release, but doesn't have any of the usual VHS-related defects. This slightly better picture quality might indicate the actual film-to-video master tape Media used for their 1985 release being used for this disc. There's some interlacing, compression artifacts, and a few instances of the entire picture becoming "digitally corrupted" for a split-second. The stereo track is on par with the VHS and there's zero extras (not even chapter stops).

Random Badass Video for Sunday Afternoon...

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Necropolis (Necropolis: City of the Dead) (1987) - 1987 Vestron Video International Japan VHS

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It's a shame the various promotional posters and video covers are so much better than actually sitting through this meek programmer. A young witch (LeeAnn Baker) in the 17th century is condemned to death during a sacrificial ritual and screams she cannot die. We flash to present day witnessing her decked in leather and mascara killing mortals through mind persuasion to gather souls to resurrect her undead minions. About the coolest thing in this whole venture is how she grows a triple set of racks to provides her zombies slimy soul ectoplasm by nipple (she goes topless several times, but this feeding method is a large chest mold). Otherwise; the blood/gore quota is virtually non-existent, there's far too much time spent ambling through its simple set-up, and the concluding twist involving a young couple onto the witch's evil doings is one you've already seen over-and-over.

Follow-up: Reflecting Skin quietly appears on DVD

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To be upfront, I didn't care much for this one. For a film that tells a story of intimate tragedy through the prism of a young boy's fanciful perception, in which a widowed English woman becomes a vampire who appears responsible for a series of murders in the child's mind, there's just too many whimsical touches in its depiction of the "real" world to convey the raw emotions its characters endure. The sell of the harsh reality of life is difficult to accept when reality distractingly looks like Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World. This aspect also dampens the impact of the boy's inevitably doomed fantasies which The Reflecting Skin hangs its rather trite climax on. David Lynch nailed a similar "seething perversion under an idyllic facade" aesthetic to much better effect several years prior with Blue Velvet.

Despite my feelings, this admittedly beautifully shot film desires way better than the terrible treatment given here by Echo Bridge. The source is obviously an old video master cropped to full screen with poor detail, print flecks, and constant sprocket flutter (incessant vertical "bouncing" to the picture). The presentation is hurt further by terrible compression, rampant interlace combing, and a strange anomaly that pops up randomly that turns segments of the picture in "blurred blobs" with surrounding areas unaffected. The color is often the best thing going, but the cumulative effect of the other problems drags down that benefit. The Dolby 2.0 audio is also problematic with dialogue often sounding too low and the score too high. Although this issue does eventually even out along the film's duration. Zero supplements with ten completely unlabeled and "unpictured" chapter stops. Here's a little DVD comparison between several other prior (and superior) releases from "Terror Obsura". (the screen caps at the link contain spoilers)

Whoever is responsible for this giant debacle deserves to be shitcanned...

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But I didn't buy this disc anyway, because I still firmly believe in what I posted here about this whole Twilight Time/Sony LE bullshit...and now this...

 

Philip Ridley's The Reflecting Skin quietly appears on U.S. DVD...

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Well, if there's one benefit of the partnership between Miramax and Echo Bridge, it's that previously neglected titles have been suddenly landing in Wal Mart's dump bins with regularity. I actually found these discs at a flea market this morning from a guy who had crates of brand new Echo Bridge discs, that looked tagged for sale at WM, for two bucks a pop. I've been very curious to finally see the film after long hearing the lamenting of its fans that it seemed destined to never receive a re-release in North America. If it's like other EB Miramax discs, it'll be an average anamorphic widescreen presentation with zero extras. I'll be watching it tonight and will report back with thoughts and screenshots.              

Two Recent Autographed Poster Grabs...

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Microwave Massacre (1982) - 1985 Midnight Video/VAP Video Japanese VHS

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Crazy Japanese zombie gore explosion finds its way into Wal Mart's dump bin...

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Just a heads up, while at a local Wal Mart yesterday perusing the $5 DVD dump bin, I came across Well Go's disc of Yoshihiro Nishimura's Helldriver (2010). I figured it might be a mistake, considering the release isn't even a year old, but soon other copies were seen shuffled in among the pile of bacteria-laded plastic. I haven't seen any of these recent Nikkatsu-backed wild undead gorefests yet, even the famed Tokyo Gore Police, so I figured $5 was worth the risk.

It also appears MGM through TGG Direct have repackaged at least some Vincent Price titles as double-features that were too only five bucks. Along with the disc below (didn't have From a Whisper yet), I spotted The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) and Tales of Terror (1962) together. There's probably others, but judging by the somewhat vague back covers, TGG has made no effort to make the transfers that weren't presented as such on the old discs anamorphically enhanced for widescreen displays.

VHSPS finally says you bet your ass this is for real!

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Awhile ago I noticed the good guys over at the VHS Preservation Society had Roger Watkin's cruelly defaced classic Last House on Dead End Street in their catalog. Already owning Barrel's now out-of-print DVD set and several import discs, I ordered it with the expectation the source of the DVD-R would be the extremely scarce Sun Video VHS. Unfortunately the copy was identical to Barrel's feature disc so I shot over a kind e-mail detailing my disappointment. They responded with an apology and offer of a free title of my choosing to which I never followed up on since the quick apology sufficed.

To get brutally honest, despite their name, the outfit is really just another in the long line of roguish rare flick suppliers that have existed almost as long as consumers had a means of viewing home video. Yet still using a DVD rip while bearing such a name just seemed to negate their admirable gimmick. However, there are understandable hurtles to providing a copy of the actual North American VHS.

First, the Sun Video carton is simply hard-as-fucking-hell to find. Unless you essentially hit the Powerball of tape collecting or know someone, prices online tend soar beyond the long defunct McKinley denomination. Then there's the matter of several different versions of the film coming from Sun Video with only one being fully uncut. The distributor didn't denote this anywhere on the box or cassette, so even if you get incredibly lucky, there's a better chance the copy is censor scissored than not.

Well, several weeks ago I received word that VHSPS rectified the situation by finally upgrading by "downgrading" to the genuine uncut Sun Video. And boy, does the presentation look like vintage analog shit of the highest half inch order. Nearly every problem that can arise from the format rears its ugly head along with a multitude of crazy print issues. Scratch and fleck damage frolics constantly across the frame always threatening to totally eradicate the picture. Some scenes which should have black shadows instead burn with electric green hues. The lo-fi sound quality resembles an ancient vinyl that was flung along asphalt and then left out in the sun.

Seeing Dead End Street the way it was experienced for decades really puts Barrel's herculean digital effort into perspective, but it also brings back the infamy the film conjured. In this greasy light, it's easier to see how seemingly no one could figure out who were behind the film and believe the wild rumors of Mexican drug cartels being responsible for "real" murders depicted. So I must extend thanks to VHSPS for living up to their name and making an important piece of this notorious piece of filth's history more readily available to those without hefty bank accounts to throw at the actual original VHS. Any fan of the film needs to have this disc sitting next to their Barrel set or if you're uninitiated, prepare for one hell of a trip.

New Day of the Dead Blu-ray arriving in Japan...

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It's doubtful, but maybe this Blu-ray, debuting September 4th from Happinet Pictures, will rectify the underwhelming picture quality of both the prior Anchor Bay/Starz and Arrow Video Blu-rays. The tech specs and supplements (mostly) seem to match the Starz BD which might be an ominous sign...

• 1.85:1 1080p Widescreen (101 Minute Uncut Version)
• English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 & Dolby Surround 2.0 (w/ optional Japanese subtitles)
• Dual-layer 50GB BD
• Limited Edition "Special Outer Case" designed by Yoshiki Takahashi and twenty page booklet
• Audio Commentary with director/writer George A. Romero, Tom Savini, Lori Cardille, and Cletus Anderson (w/ optional Japanese subtitles)
• The Many Days of Day of the Dead Documentary
• Gateway Commerce Center Promotional Video
• 3 Theatrical Trailers & 3 TV Spots
• "Fast Film Facts" Trivia Track
• Photo Gallery

C'mon people, you're wasting big money on dirt mall finds...

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Don't get me wrong, I'm not against buying tapes online or paying substantially for true quality, but the increasing prevalence of total auction blowouts such as these on beat-up junk is baffling. Some tapes are beginning to be harder to find; however, it's still not that hard to hunt down great pieces in much better shape for much cheaper. Either these are shady bid bumping by the sellers or dumb pride driving bidders into wars over tapes I'd have a tough time spending a fraction of these ridiculous prices on. I hope the winners find that it was worth it somehow...

Seriously...? Makers of this "Mr. Hush" dreck?

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This is the kind of shit that totally turns me off and I know I'm never watching this junk...

Old Comic Book Price Guides are Hilarious...

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Definitely not the norm for BoGD, and I don't seriously collect comics myself, but I thought you guys would still get a kick out of the incredibly low values quoted in Hal L. Cohen's Official Guide to Comic Books published in 1974. How times have changed! All values are for "mint" condition...

• ACTION COMICS #1: $1,600
• ACTION COMICS #7: $300
• ALL-AMERICAN COMICS #16: $170
• AMAZING FANTASY #15: $42.50 (whut?)
• AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1: $45
• BATMAN #1: $850
• CAPTAIN AMERICA #1: $350
• DETECTIVE COMICS #1: $250
• DETECTIVE COMICS #27: $1,000
• DETECTIVE COMICS #29: $200
• FANTASTIC FOUR #1: $80
• HUMAN TORCH #2: $185
• INCREDIBLE HULK #1: $40
• JUMBO COMICS #1: $275
• MARVEL COMICS #1: $800
• MORE FUN COMICS #52: $450
• SHOWCASE #4: $50 
• SUPERMAN #1: $750
• TALES OF SUSPENSE #39: $25
• X-MEN #1: $15
• WHIZ COMICS #1: $1000

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New Video: Some Tips on Collecting Japanese VHS Tapes

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Redneck Zombies (1987) - 1988 TCC Video Japan VHS

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Hard won but dammit, I absolutely love this piece of shot on video junk!