Week of 30 May
DVD: Zombie Undead ★★ (Ruth King, Kris Tearse, Barry Thomas, Christopher J. Herbert, Steven Dolton, Sandra Wildbore; £15.99; UK Cert 15; Runtime 79 mins) Another week, another zombie flick. This run-of-the-mill, superfluously-titled British take on the rampant undead is quite the slow-burner and adopts the George Romero hallmark that is having a group of survivors trapped inside a single building during a zombie apocalypse, ala the classics Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead. But instead of a house or a shopping mall, the majority of Zombie Undead takes place in a hospital... in Leicester. It was made on a shoestring and looks it, the acting is all very am-dram and the camerawork leaves a lot to be desired (canted angles don't work too well with a handheld camera, especially when used as much as they are here). I counted the first noticeable tripod shot of the entire film at the one-hour mark. It's very simple stuff that just about works thanks to the slim running time, but it's hardly enthralling. No extras — Adam Kelly
DVD: 5150 Elm’s Way ★★★ (Marc-André Grondin, Normand D'Amour, Mylène St-Sauveur, Sonia Vachon, Élodie Larivière; £12.99; UK Cert 18; Runtime 107 mins) A decent French-Canadian thriller that borders on horror, but ultimately disappoints. Film student Yannick (Grondin) falls off his bike in front of the titular suburban house. Seeking aid, he eventualy finds himself taken hostage by Jaques (D'Amour), a man who rules over his family with an iron fist and considers himself to be a "righteous" man. In fact, he's a religious psychopath, who is obsessed with chess and sees himself as being on a quest to rid the world of evil. It's well shot and well acted, with some good dialigue and a few terrific ideas. But it's all rather tame for a film of this kind, and the ending is somewhat of a letdown. It's been around for a while – it was released in 2009 – and has won awards at a couple of festivals. No extras — Stuart O'Connor
DVD: Baboons with Bill Bailey ★★ (Bill Bailey; £12.99; UK Cert E; Runtime 174 mins) Self-proclaimed Part-Troll Bill Bailey has justifiably established himself as one of Britain’s finest purveyors of comedy, but there is little humour in this documentary series from ITV. It follows three individual families of baboons situated across South Africa, charting their bonds, politics, violence and interaction with human beings. Bailey is an agreeable host and there’s a lot of monkey for your money, but it’s hard to pin-point the re-watch appeal of this disc. It feels stretched to eight episodes, and you feel it could have been done much better in a one-hour special. Stacked against award-winning wildlife epics like The Planet Earth this comes up pretty short. Niche-appeal; for lovers of the subject or Bailey completists only. No extras — Rich Wilson
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Week of 23 May
DVD: Red Canyon ★ (Christine Lakin, Tim Draxl, Katie Maguire, Justin Hartley, Noah Fleiss, Norman Reedus; £12.99; UK Cert 15; Runtime 94 mins) Brother and sister Devon and Regina think it's a marvellous idea to return with a few friends to the dusty old town where they were savagely attacked some years prior, only to walk right into an even more sordid and violent ordeal at the hands of local lowlife Mac, played by The Walking Dead's Norman Reedus, complete with a Michael Myers-style boiler suit, knife and even a mask (albeit it's not William Shatner). I'm not quite sure why Mac descends into such slaughter, but, like so many elements of this film, you'll just have to roll with it. Or you could avoid it altogether because it's a load of old tosh utterly devoid of logic. Extras: Just the trailer. — Adam Kelly
DVD: Who Can Kill a Child? ★★★★ (Lewis Fiander, Prunella Ransome, Antonio Iranzo, Miguel Narros; £16.34; UK Cert 18; Runtime 106 mins) And so this controversial Spanish cult classic has finally been released in the UK and in its original uncut form. Plus, it's got a terrific transfer. Who Can Kill a Child? is a superb slow-burn exploitation movie about a married English couple who visit an island off Spain that has been overrun by killer kids. It may sound a little bit silly, but don't be fooled. These seemingly possessed children are infinitely creepy and give the film a very disturbing aura that builds and builds right from the first frame (the picture begins with a seven-minute montage of real footage showing the results of global atrocities like World War Two in the form of dead and dying children) until a shockingly brilliant climax. It's a seriously downbeat movie that looks marvellous thanks to some excellent camerawork. It harbours its unsettling power in the ideas that it conveys to the audience rather than in its use of violence, of which there is a surprisingly sparse amount. Extras: Interviews with director Narciso Ibanez Serrador and cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine. — Adam Kelly
DVD: Stranger on the Third Floor ★★ (Peter Lorre, John McGuire, Margaret Tallichet, Charles Waldron, Elisha Cook Jr; £9.99; UK Cert 12; Runtime 61 mins) For a picture hailed as the first “true” film noir, 1940's Stranger on the Third Floor (complete with a smattering of Peter Lorre) is unfortunately not much more than a shadowy hour of overwrought melodrama. Director Boris Ingster certainly succeeded at creating a moody tone with no shortage of Chiaroscuro lighting, but this woefully underdeveloped and short tale of a New York City journalist wrestling with doubt over whether or not the man whom he testified against for murder was really the perpetrator is purely a case of style over substance. No extras — Adam Kelly
DVD: The Devil Dared Me To ★★ (Chris Stapp, Matt Heath, Bonnie Soper, Andrew Beattie; £12.99; UK Cert 15; Runtime 77 mins) Silly humour, outrageous characters and over-the-top gore are the prominent themes of this light-hearted comedy from New Zealand that tells the story of an aspiring stuntman whose father died as a result of a trick gone awry when he was a child. Growing up as a handyman for a daredevil has-been, the man happens across the opportunity to realise his dream and takes it – and the wheel – with both hands. Some may be surprised to discover that the film, the second release from FrightFest Features, isn't a horror, but the fiery (and bloody) scenes of botched stunts may just satisfy the genre crowd. Sadly, however, unlike the annual festival, The Devil Dared Me To is neither a terrific nor fun experience. Extras: A 30-minute making-of split into two parts; two Deja Voodoo music videos; TV spots; teaser trailer; trailer; three TV clips; and a behind the scenes feature. — Adam Kelly
DVD: Clash of Empires: Battle for Asia ★★★ (Stephen Rahman Hughes, Gavin Stenhouse, Jing Lusi, Craig Fong; £15.99; UK Cert 15; Runtime 104 mins) Also known as The Malay Chronicles: Bloodlines, this big-budget Malaysian historical epic revolves around a Chinese princess who is captured by a huge foreign army as she attempts to flee from an arranged marriage with a Roman prince, leaving it up to a vengeful warrior, his people and the formidable alliance of Rome and China to rescue her. A classic story revitalised with intense action, Clash of Empires: Battle for Asia features high production values for a film from Malaysia, with somewhat impressive visual effects for the notoriously behind Asian movie industry. The script is far from electrifying and the same can be said for the cast who often struggle with the delivery of their broken English dialogue, but the film stands as a tight and consistently entertaining way to spend a couple of hours. No extras — Adam Kelly
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Week of 16 May
DVD: Owd Bob ★★ (Stars Will Fyffe, John Loder, Margaret Lockwood, Graham Moffatt; £12.99; UK Cert U; Runtime 80 mins) Owd Bob is Gainsborough Production's version of an oft-filmed children's story, Bob, Son of Battle. It's the tale of Adam McAdam (Fyffe), a curmudgeonly old sheepherder in the Scottish borders who loves three things in life: his dog, his daughter Jeannie (Margaret Lockwood, just before her breakout role in Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes), and whiskey. As McAdam fights off attempts by rival tenants to have his dog Black Wull put down for worrying their sheep, he has his sights set on winning the sheepdog trials for an unprecedented third time. New young neighbour David Moore (Loder), together with his dog, the eponymous Bob, is determined to take the title, and also has his sights set on Jeannie. What we have here is a typical Gainsborough quickie, a dash of sentiment, chock full of music hall type supporting eccentric turns, and an attractive pair of young leads, emphasising comedy over the drama at the heart of the original tale. Some nice location filming of the hills and fells helps allay any staginess to the piece. picture quality is good, though sound is variable, with some dialogue hard to distinguish. The sort of film you used to watch on a rainy afternoon, and there's nothing wrong with that. Extras: Eight trailers for other titles in Odeon Entertainments's Best of British range. — Tim Pelan
DVD: Tawny Pipit ★★½ (Stars Stars Bernard Miles, Rosamund John and Niall MacGinnis; £12.99; UK Cert U; Runtime 81 mins) Released in 1944, Tawny Pipit is a Second World War comedy set in the heart of the English countryside, where men were men, and women were seen to swoon over their masculinity. Each were classic staples within a small English village. There’s the vicar, the school teacher and the hot headed Colonel Barton Barrington (Miles) enlisted to provide the propaganda led stereotypes through the guise of a sleepy yet pleasant British comedy. The premise of the feature centres on Jimmy Bancroft (MacGinnis) a recently discharged fighter pilot and his nurse Hazel Broome (John), on their discovery of the rare Tawny Pipit bird nesting in the town Lipsbury Lea whilst bird watching. Various villagers are enlisted to help keep watch over the bids to make sure the birds settle, and are not strewn away from the village, with varying degrees of comical effect. A fairly jovial foray into the rambling English countryside, affirming the understandably lighter feature films released at this time. One to watch on a Sunday afternoon with a cup of tea. Extras: Trailers for other titles in Odeon Entertainments's Best of British range. — Willemijn Barker-Benfield
DVD: Don't Ever Leave Me ★★★ (Stars Petula Clark, Jimmy Hanley, Linden Travers, Hugh Sinclair, Edward Rigby; £12.99; UK Cert U; Runtime 80 mins) Elderly petty crook Harry Denton (Rigby), newly released from prison and imposing on respectable grandson Jack (Hanley), thinks he's come up with a quick source of income by kidnapping Sheila Farlaine (Clark) the sheltered daughter of wealthy stage actor Michael Farlaine (Sinclair). But when he finds he hasn't the stomach for it, he's thwarted by the precocious girl's determination to use the scenario to have some fun and get some attention from her father for once. This brisk, lively and good natured farce showcases an excellent cast, especially the teenaged Clark, in a role not too dissimilar to Audrey hepburn's in A Roman Holiday. She is determined to have some fun and wraps every man around her little finger, especially the hapless Jack, who is determined to reunite father and daughter without feeling the weight of the law on his and Harry's necks. Clark gets to sing the title song in a nightclub scene, and a very young Anthony Newley threatens to upstage everyone, as Sheila's friend and neighbour, spinning ever more elaborate yarns about the kidnapping. Consider this a proto-Ealing type comedy. Extras: Trailers for other titles in Odeon Entertainments's Best of British range. — Tim Pelan
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Week of 9 May
DVD: Sweatshop ★★★ (Stars Ashley Kay, Peyton Wetzel, Brent Himes; £9.99; UK Cert 18; Runtime 87 mins) With the quick-cash idea of setting up an illegal rave for teenagers, a group of highly disposable punks get to work preparing what they believe is an abandoned warehouse for a night of debauchery, only the building actually houses a hulking behemoth with a really quite brilliant weapon of choice: an anvil attached to some kind of metal pipe, making for a rather unique warhammer of sorts. If you can survive the first act, which is dedicated to meagrely developing characters who are impossible to like throughout, then you're in for a blood and guts-splattered treat as the giant serves up a tasty smorgasbord of inspired kills with absolutely no motive. This is a true body count horror where the plot takes second place to the carnage, but it proves to be an entertaining ride through the use of excellent practical effects. Sweatshop is gorily good stuff with a Hatchet vibe. No extras — Adam Kelly
DVD: Pandemic ★★ (Stars Satoshi Tsumabuki, Rei Dan, Ryoko Kuninaka, Yuji Tanaka, Chizuru Ikewaki, Takanori Takeyama; £15.99; UK Cert 15; Runtime 138 mins) The Japanese sure love their disaster movies, don't they? They just keep on churning them out. The wrath of Godzilla has sadly been substituted for natural catastrophes that result in excruciating melodrama and dodgy CG explosions. Well, usually. Pandemic on the other hand is a far quieter film in comparison to most of the genre dross we've see recently and doesn't subject audiences to soap opera performances and ropey effects work. Instead of typhoons, hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes giving way to scenes of epic destruction, this grossly over-long movie is centred around a number of doctors who are caught up in the chaos brought about by a mysterious virus, originally thought to be bird flu, that has ravaged Japan at an alarming rate and claimed countless victims. Perhaps it wouldn't be quite so hard to stomach had it been about 90 minutes in length and with its immense amount of cine-fat nicely trimmed. Only then would it make for an interesting watch. Probably. Extras: Just the trailer. — Adam Kelly
DVD: Eyes of the Chameleon ★ (Stars Ann Teal, Lawrence Butcher, Robert Scott Howard, Garvin Lee; $14.95; US Cert Not Rated; Runtime 77 mins) Exposed breasts, a little sex and blood don't make an exploitation movie the same way that red lighting, black gloves and a knife don't make a giallo. These are the rules that should have been abided by during both the production and development of Eyes of the Chameleon, an ultra low-budget slasher movie picked up by Troma. Focusing on an unlikeable young woman whose life goes on a downward spiral right after hearing from a supposed psychic that her future looks bleak, the crimson begins to flow, just not in a fun nor brutal way, leaving genre fans with an appetite for far more than what they get by the time the credits roll. The twist pay-off just doesn't work since a blind field mouse could see it coming from a good few miles away and there is absolutely no mystery, which, for a film trying to imitate Dario Argento's iconic gialli, is tantamount to creative suicide. Extras: Two deleted scenes, the trailer and the usual selection of “Tromatic Extras” that you can see explained in the Killer Yacht Party review below. — Adam Kelly
DVD: Killer Yacht Party ★ (Stars James C Burns, Tony Besson, Kate Luyben, Renee Darmiento; $14.95; US Cert Not Rated; Runtime 85 mins) One of Troma's two new releases for the month, straight-up slasher movie Killer Yacht Party – formerly known as Dead in the Water – is perhaps quite different from what you would normally expect from the company responsible for such all-out comedy splatterfests as The Toxic Avenger series and the more recent Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead. But have no fear, Troma hasn't gone soft, this is merely a film they distributed rather than produced. In a nutshell, it's also not very good. The idea of a killer on a boat during a party is an interesting one and the film precedes Brit flick Donkey Punch, but the execution just isn't there. The kills are often few and far between and it takes almost an hour to get into the meat of the plot, no pun intended. It's a slow, slow movie devoid of a script compelling enough to sustain the wait before the first death, and when the body count does eventually begin to rise, the scenes of blood and guts are marred by constant cutaways. Generic genre fare. Extras: Audio commentary with writer Alex Silver and director Piotr Uzarowicz, stills gallery, trailer and the usual “Tromatic Extras”: trailers; Net Neutrality and Hermaphrodite PSAs; Troma T&A and Radiation March features; and an exclusive preview from the upcoming Produce Your Own Damn Movie box set. — Adam Kelly
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Week of 2 May
DVD: The Blood Reich: BloodRayne 3 ★ (Stars Clint Howard, Natassia Malthe, Michael Pare, Brendan Fletcher, William Belli; £15.99; UK Cert 15; Runtime 75 mins) Powerhouse film-maker Uwe Boll's latest to hit DVD in the UK is another instalment in what is now the BloodRayne trilogy, a series of movies where the gruesome exploits of the Dhampir warrior princess Rayne, a vampire who can walk in the daylight and doesn't require blood as sustenance, are followed across different time periods. Set in World War II, BloodRayne 3 sees Rayne hacking and slashing her way through the Nazis as she hunts down an SS commander who fell victim to her bite and subsequently became a Dhampir himself. She must stop him before he can provide Hitler with a sample of her blood and therefore attain immortality. As you can tell, the film has a wafer-thin plot and I haven't even skipped any details in the interest of keeping this review brief. The characters just appear out of nowhere – they might as well have fallen out of the sky – and see no development throughout. It's short, bloody, near plot-less and feels like it's the second half of a bigger story. Pitiful. Extras: An interview with writer Michael Nachoff; a 28-minute making-of feature; and an audio commentary with director Boll and Nachoff. — Adam Kelly
DVD: Blades of Blood ★★ (Stars Seong-hyeon Baek, Kim Chang-Wan, Seung-won Cha, Ji-hye Han, Jeong-min Hwang; £15.99; UK Cert 15; Runtime 104 mins) With China being the prime target of Japan's invading forces, Korea stands between them, and the only way for the Japanese military muscle to enter enemy territory is by going straight through it. Korea's political disarray as a result of the impending assault sends a shockwave right down the spine of the country. One that is felt the strongest in a young man, a bastard child whose family was massacred by the fanged leader of the Great Alliance. Dead set on avenging his father's death, the man teams up with a blind master swordsman (think Zatoichi) and begins his journey to vengeance. Now although the plot may sound dramatic, there's actually not much at all until the film's final act. A number of absolutely epic action scenes keep things moving from beginning to end, but the time developed to characterisation is precious little and you soon find yourself uninterested in the protagonist who is supposed to be the centre of the entire story. This South Korean manga adaptation may have some spills and thrills, but its goofy humour and underwhelming script make for an ultimately disappointing watch. No extras — Adam Kelly
DVD: Time Traveller: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time ★★★ (Stars Riisa Naka, Akinobu Nakao, Narumi Yasuda, Masanobu Katsumura, Kanji Ishimaru; £17.99; UK Cert 12; Runtime 116 mins) When a scientist who has just developed a time-travelling potion falls into a coma after being ran down by a car, it is up to her teenage daughter to venture back into 1972 in order to make contact with an acquaintance from her mother's past and deliver a message. Unfortunately, the girl gets her dates in a muddle and winds up in 1974, making an already difficult task that much more complicated. The film, the fourth big screen adaptation of the novel of the same title by Yasutaka Tsutsui, is a solid love story with a dash of sci-fi and plenty of feel-good humour. Riisa Naka lays on a strong performance as the lovably ditsy teenager who finds romance in the unlikeliest of places. A sweet and charming drama. Extras: Two trailers and almost 20 minutes worth of deleted scenes. — Adam Kelly
DVD: The Devil's Tomb ★ (Stars Cuba Gooding Jr, Ron Perlman, Ray Winstone, Bill Moseley, Taryn Manning, Henry Rollins; £12.99; UK Cert 18; Runtime 87 mins) What on earth happened to the career of Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding Jr? Oh yes, Daddy Day Camp happened, how could I forget? Despite a big name cast, The Devil's Tomb is a perfect example of the schlock that plagues the straight-to-video horror market with its outright tedious plot concerning a group of US soldiers who are sent on a mission to recover a trapped scientist from an underground lab. The recipe for disaster as far as cinema goes includes weak characters, predictable twists and a script that's about as engaging as... well, Daddy Day Camp, and you can sure as heck check all those off for this movie. And a parting word of advice to all movie business folk: as great as Ray Winstone is, never, ever cast him as an American. No extras — Adam Kelly