This week’s releases include a thrilling sequel; a series reboot; a sci-fi moral dilemma; an experiment gone wrong; a mediocre slasher; a con’s fresh start; and a game-changing TV series.
The Colony (Blu-ray & Digital copy)
Earth has been decimated by climate change, pandemics and war. Years after the ruling elite escaped to another planet, a mission was launched to find out if a return to an uninhabitable Earth were possible. That mission was lost. Now, Blake (Nora Arnezeder), a lone astronaut in search of answers, struggles to survive the hostile planet and she must ultimately make a choice that will seal the fate of the wasteland’s remaining populace.
The basic premise of this movie is similar to that of other science fiction stories, particularly the series, The 100. Blake returns to Earth with the weight of the human race’s survival on her shoulders. Examining everything she encounters and gathering data to send back, she’s shocked to discover there are already human inhabitants and she’s landed in the middle of a lop-sided war. The revelations keep coming and Blake is forced to make some very difficult decisions. Approaching this world practically and logically based on the projected environment and available resources, filmmakers succeed in presenting a genuine, post-apocalyptic setting. Nothing about this picture is clear-cut, including the ending, but it does feel authentic and possible.
Special features include: commentary with writer/director Tim Fehlbaum; and “Visions of the Future: Making The Colony.” (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Deadly Friend [Collector’s Edition] (Blu-ray)
Paul (Matthew Labyorteaux), a lonely teenage genius who’s also a brain research specialist, has two best friends: his remarkable robot and Samantha (Kristy Swanson), the beautiful girl next door. When tragedy strikes both of his friends, he desperately tries to save them by pushing technology beyond its mortal limits into a terrifying new realm. Like a modern-day Dr. Frankenstein, Paul discovers too late that he has created a rampaging monster!
The movie begins rather innocently with a boy and his robot getting the hang of a new neighbourhood and its unusual neighbours. There’s definitely a glitch in the robot’s AI, but Paul fails to notice it. However, it’s not long before the narrative evolves into a mix of Frankenstein and Re-animator as the teen mad scientist uses his skills to reverse his friend’s untimely death. Of course, the robot’s earlier mishaps foreshadow the experiment’s doom, but that doesn’t keep it from being entertaining. This wasn’t necessarily the film director Wes Craven set out to make as his first cut was less gory. However, the special effects team were called upon to up the ante and they delivered. It’s especially gratifying to see Anne Ramsey of Goonies fame be killed so horrifically on camera.
Special features include: “Hey Sam, Nice Shot,” an interview with actress Kristy Swanson; “Written in Blood,” an interview with screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin; “Robots, Ramsey and Revenge,” an interview with special makeup effects artist Lance Anderson; “Samantha’s Symphony,” an interview with composer Charles Bernstein; TV spots; and theatrical trailer. (Scream Factory)
Death Screams [Limited Edition] (Blu-ray)
Late one night, a young couple is brutally murdered at a make-out spot by an unseen assailant, their bodies tossed into the nearby river. As the lifeless lovers drift slowly downstream, the residents of the town excitedly prepare for their annual carnival, unaware that a machete-wielding maniac with a twisted grudge is lurking in their midst. When a group of teen revellers plan a late-night after party down in the local cemetery, they unwittingly set the stage for a bloodbath. The film was released on US VHS as House of Death (and on UK DVD with the reels in the wrong order).
This movie was clearly trying to leverage the popularity of the slasher genre. It puts a big knife in a mysterious psychopath’s hand and sets him loose on a bunch of young people. The first victims are the ultimate cliché, targeting a couple making out in a car at a secluded lookout point. Not to stray too far from the beaten path, the teens begin their evening telling scary stories before moving the party to an abandoned house in and around which they’re picked off one by one. Overall, the film is pretty forgettable. The kills are bloody, but pretty standard fare for the genre and the murderer’s identity isn’t that revelatory.
Special features include: commentary by producer Charles Ison and special effects artist Worth Keeter moderated by filmmaker Phil Smoot; commentary with The Hysteria Continues; House of Death alternate VHS opening titles; “All the Fun of the Scare: The Making of Death Screams”; image galleries; TV and radio spots; and fully-illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Brian Albright. (Arrow Video)
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (Blu-ray & Digital copy)
In this installment, six people unwittingly find themselves locked in another series of escape rooms, slowly uncovering what they have in common to survive… and discovering they’ve all played the game before.
After the truth was exposed at the end of the first picture, this second movie in the franchise picks up a few months after the last game’s conclusion. The film tells two parallel stories — one follows the champion players in their new murderous rooms and the other takes audiences behind the scenes to share the unsurprisingly dysfunctional lives of the game’s creators. The escape rooms in this movie are at least as, if not more, intricate than their predecessors. Where the puzzles lack obvious personal links to the players, there is a wider connection arranged by their deranged designer. Once again, just enough time is spent developing the characters so audiences will lament their inevitable demises. After many twists and turns, the not-so-unpredictable ending opens up even more possibilities on which they can build a franchise à la the Saw series. Overall, the sequel makes the narrative more interesting by introducing players already familiar with the rules of the game and watching them still fail to survive the traps.
Special features include: theatrical and extended cuts; “Go Inside the Minos Escape Rooms”; “Meet the Players”; and “Director Adam Robitel on Raising the Stakes.” (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
High Sierra (Blu-ray)
Roy Earle (Humphrey Bogart) is a career criminal plagued by his checkered past, who longs for a simpler life. But after getting sprung on parole, he falls in with a band of thieves for one last heist in the Sierra Nevada.
This is one of those tales that sets out to prove even a bad guy with a good heart is still a bad guy. Roy is ready to settle down for the quiet life. He’s found a nice girl and a quaint house with some farmland — everything a man could want… He just needs to do one more heist and he’ll be set. In spite of appearing to be on the brink of having everything he could want out of life, it’s just not enough. Eventually, his inability to accept and embrace what’s in front of him is his downfall and leads to the conclusion Hollywood mandated. Nonetheless, Bogart is ever the charming, smart, tough criminal who seems like he could get himself out of almost any jam.
Special features include: Colorado Territory, director Raoul Walsh’s 1949 western remake of High Sierra; new conversation on Walsh between film programmer Dave Kehr and critic Farran Smith Nehme; “The True Adventures of Raoul Walsh,” a 2019 documentary by Marilyn Ann Moss; “Curtains for Roy Earle,” a 2003 featurette on the making of High Sierra; “Bogart: Here’s Looking at You, Kid,” a 1997 documentary aired on The South Bank Show; interview with film and media historian Miriam J. Petty about actor Willie Best; video essay featuring excerpts from a 1976 American Film Institute interview with novelist and screenwriter W. R. Burnett; radio adaptation of High Sierra from 1944; trailers; and essay by critic Imogen Sara Smith. (Criterion Collection)
Kung Fu: The Complete First Season (Blu-ray)
A quarter-life crisis causes young Chinese-American woman Nicky Shen (Olivia Liang) to drop out of college and journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to San Francisco, she finds her hometown is overrun with crime and corruption, and her parents are at the mercy of a powerful Triad. Nicky will right wrongs, while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor.
This is actually the third series in the franchise with the second being somewhat of a sequel to the first and this being a reboot of the whole thing. Now, the protagonist is a young woman who set out on a journey to find herself. Spending years away from her family and friends, she learns kung fu with an ancient Chinese sect and only returns to her home when her search for a killer leads her back to America. The characters are all very engaging, making the series very much an ensemble project. Nicky’s skills are impressive and she does find someone local with moves to match who can have her back during these dangerous missions. The main storyline actually comes to a head at the end of this season, so it will be interesting to see what the future holds for Nicky and whether it can live up to this chapter.
Special features include: deleted scenes; and “Bond of Honor.” (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment)
Sex and The City: The Complete Series + 2 Movie Collection (Blu-ray)
Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) is a New York-based writer who explores and experiences the unique world of Manhattan’s dating scene, chronicling the mating habits of single New Yorkers. The series also stars cast regulars PR executive Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), who’s seen — and done — it all; Charlotte York (Kristin Davis), who is still trying to hold on to the idea of happily ever after; and corporate lawyer and mother Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon), a pragmatist trying to balance the idea of love with the realities of life.
This series spoke to generations of women who had never seen female characters like these on screen before. In spite of them each falling into a particular category or stereotype, they presented personality traits with which viewers could identify and to which they could aspire. Though most know the show for its frank discussions about sex and dating, below the surface it was about friendship and womanhood. Over the course of six seasons, audiences lived with these women’s successes, failures, loves and heartbreaks. And when the series ended, fans of the show were not yet done with the characters. So, they returned for two films, the first of which continued a storyline and tied loose ends, while the second tried to go back to the beginnings but with more wisdom. This set is a great precursor to the forthcoming revival series… though it’ll never be the same without Samantha.
Special features include: episode commentary by executive producer Michael Patrick King; deleted scenes; alternate series finale endings; “Inside Sex and the City”; “Meet the Cast of Sex and the City”; “The Writers of Sex and the City”; “The Fashion of Sex and the City”; “Sex and the City: Real New Yorkers”; “Behind-the-Scenes with Patricia Field”; “Farewell Tributes”; “Museum of TV & Radio Seminar Series”; and “USCAF Writer’s Panel Discussion.” (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment)
