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Posted by DVD Verdict on 10/24/05 08:16
Today, DVD Verdict posted reviews of THE BLIND DEAD COLLECTION, THE
BLUES BROTHERS: 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION, CAT PEOPLE / CURSE OF THE CAT
PEOPLE, DEMON SEED, THE FLY: COLLECTOR'S EDITION, HALLOWEENTOWN /
HALLOWEENTOWN II: KALABAR'S REVENGE, THE HISTORY OF USC FOOTBALL, ISLE
OF THE DEAD / BEDLAM, I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE / THE BODY SNATCHER,
LIFEBOAT, NAKED: CRITERION COLLECTION, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: LEGACY
SERIES EDITION, THE VAL LEWTON HORROR COLLECTION, and WEEKEND:
THE BLIND DEAD COLLECTION (reviewed by Paul Corupe, overall score
84/100):
"Certainly, each film draws on the gut-munching work of zombie kingpin
George A. Romero, whose Night of the Living Dead was as much a sensation
in Europe as it was at home, but Tombs of the Blind Dead and its bastard
offspring are really some of the most unique horror efforts committed to
celluloid; ingeniously conceived, atmospheric shockers with truly spine-
tingling killer creatures."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/blinddead.php
THE BLUES BROTHERS: 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (reviewed by Dan Mancini,
overall score 98/100):
"If there's a surprise with regard to the films' music, it's how
credibly John Belushi stands toe-to-toe with these legends as a singer."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/bluesbrothers25th.php
CAT PEOPLE / CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE (reviewed by Mike Pinsky, overall
score 96/100):
"Cat People avoids soap-opera histrionics by virtue of smart writing
that never panders to an audience craving something a bit more
disturbing. Is Irena just a desperate housewife growing more dangerously
hysterical by the day? Or is she really one of the evil 'cat people'
that she was warned about as a child? A conventional horror film would
answer that question with certainty. In a Val Lewton film, you can never
be too sure."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/cursecatpeople.php
DEMON SEED (reviewed by George Hatch, overall score 93/100):
"There are no monumental intergalactic battle scenes or prolonged CGI
sequences reveling in faux pyrotechnic displays of global assault and
destruction. Demon Seed offers a more intimate portrayal of man's
scientific experimentation and quest for knowledge that extends far
beyond the anticipated logical fruition without taking into account the
potentially devastating consequences."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/demonseed.php
THE FLY: COLLECTOR'S EDITION (reviewed by Mike Pinsky, overall
score 99/100):
"The film is accessible to audiences who could not give a damn who
directed it, and for Cronenberg junkies, it neatly encapsulates his
themes while piling on wit and action. Strong performances give this an
emotional core that most horror films, interested only in the
voyeuristic pleasure of watching characters suffer from a distance,
cannot match."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/flyce.php
HALLOWEENTOWN / HALLOWEENTOWN II: KALABAR'S REVENGE (reviewed by Dennis
Prince, overall score 91/100):
"Looks like it's time to kick over some garbage cans and light up a
brown bag on the doorstep for the folks at Disney DVD."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/halloweentown.php
THE HISTORY OF USC FOOTBALL (reviewed by Jeff Andreasen, overall
score 90/100):
"The History of USC Football does a good job of covering the pertinent
history of Trojan football. There is plenty of archival footage from the
1930s that is at once pleasing to the USC faithful and of interest to
the idle viewer, as, with no hash marks on the field, snaps were taken
only a few feet from the sideline. Wonder where the play's going!"
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/historyuscfootball.php
ISLE OF THE DEAD / BEDLAM (reviewed by Rob Lineberger, overall
score 66/100):
"Bedlam is firmly rooted in the horrors of humanity. The costumes, sets,
speech, and props convey 18th-century England with authority, and the
actors are composed enough about the period aspect to sell it. Rarely
has a film been so convincing, taken me so completely into a past era."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/isledeadbedlam.php
I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE / THE BODY SNATCHER (reviewed by Amanda DeWees,
overall score 88/100):
"Elegance is not a quality that zombie movies are known for, but it
describes I Walked with a Zombie, which holds a place of distinction as
one of Lewton's finest works and one of the most effective horror films
of the 1930s."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/bodysnatcher.php
LIFEBOAT (reviewed by James A. Stewart, overall score 93/100):
"When Alfred Hitchcock told this fictional story of the survivors of a
torpedoed freighter, it was one ripped from the headlines -- stories of
people stranded in lifeboats after German U-boat attacks were an
everyday part of newspaper accounts. Although topical, Lifeboat is a
World War II drama that deserves to be remembered."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/lifeboatse.php
NAKED: CRITERION COLLECTION (reviewed by Joe Armenio, overall
score 94/100):
"Twelve years after its release, the controversy surrounding it seems
beside the point; it's an angry, passionate film that contain a
multitude of ideas and point of view, driven by the fervent desire to
record particular ways of being in a particular time and place, and to
reduce it to a single message or statement about gender relations is
both unfair and kind of silly."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/naked.php
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: LEGACY SERIES EDITION (reviewed by Bryan Pope,
overall score 95/100):
"So powerful are To Kill a Mockingbird's themes about prejudice and
racial injustice that it's easy to overlook the vivid coming-of-age
story hiding deep inside Lee's book. But look closer and Lee's story is
not so much about a white woman's alleged rape by a black man than it is
about children who are, in a sense, raped of their innocence."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/tokillmockingbird.php
THE VAL LEWTON HORROR COLLECTION (reviewed by a panel, overall
score 85/100):
"Cat People avoids soap-opera histrionics by virtue of smart writing
that never panders to an audience craving something a bit more
disturbing. Is Irena just a desperate housewife growing more dangerously
hysterical by the day? Or is she really one of the evil 'cat people'
that she was warned about as a child? A conventional horror film would
answer that question with certainty. In a Val Lewton film, you can never
be too sure."
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/vallewtoncoll.php
WEEKEND (reviewed by Adam Arseneau, overall score 89/100):
"Though deliberately unapproachable, Weekend is nothing short of a new
wave masterpiece, and its longstanding absence from DVD has been nothing
short of blasphemous. Could it be possible that there are Godard fans
out there that have not experienced this film?"
FULL REVIEW: http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/weekend.php
Mike Jackson
Editor & Webmaster, DVD Verdict
www.dvdverdict.com
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