New Releases

Yeah, I am still here.  I am working from home and living the good life and the new pup Rocky is doing great.  Covid is getting worse around here so we have battened down the hatches here and only go out when necessary until things get normal again.  What ever that will be.  Since movie studios are still shut down there is not going to be many new releases coming out on blu for awhile so let's look at some of the titles that have come out recently and hope good catalog titles are on the way.

Escape from LA- Snake Plissken is once again called in by the United States government to recover a potential doomsday device from Los Angeles, now an autonomous island where undesirables are deported.  When I saw this movie was announced in Fangoria back in the day I was so excited that Carpenter was making a sequel to one of my favorite movies.  I was waiting for this to come out just as much as an Eastwood or Stallone flick back then.  I remember going on opening night with some friends and when it was over, I was less then thrilled.  It was practically a remake with a different setting and the special effects were awful. I eventually have come around on this movie because it is Carpenter and Russell together again and it looks like for the last time.  Besides I love Russell’s Snake Plissken because remember, he is playing Eastwood here.  It was not until just recently I read in an interview that Paramount cut the budget on the movie right before shooting starting.  It appears the studio was hoping Carpenter and Russell would take a pay cut but they stuck to their guns and the movie had to suffer somewhere and that is why the special effects are so bad.  The score by Carpenter and Shirley Walker is awesome with its Western theme.  I do appreciate this movie more now and I am glad Scream Factory put this out even though it is a little light on the special features.  The name is Plissken.

Invisible Man- When Cecilia's abusive ex takes his own life and leaves her his fortune, she suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of coincidences turn lethal, Cecilia works to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.  I glad to see Universal hand this off to Blumhouse because Universal’s version of The Mummy with Tom Cruise just about buried the whole Universal Monsters franchise and Blumhouse know what the fans want and does not go overboard on their budgets.  I have been watching a ton of stuff but I still have got around to this one yet.

Atlantic City- In a corrupt city, a small-time gangster and the estranged wife of a pot dealer find themselves thrown together in an escapade of love, money, drugs and danger. This is one of those movies I have heard about but has been out of print for a very long time.  I am very glad some of these old movies get blu releases because you sure cannot find them streaming anywhere.

Bad Boys for Life- Miami detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett must face off against a mother-and-son pair of drug lords who wreak vengeful havoc on their city.  The first two movies we a lot of fun and this one is too.  What took them so long to make this?  Oh yeah, Will Smith keeps chasing an Oscar.

Narrow Margin- A Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney is sent to protect a woman who accidentally witnessed a Mafia murder.  Anytime a Gene Hackman movie gets a blu release it makes me this the guy that much more.  This is a great action thriller that takes place on a train and is very good.  Highly recommended.

Universal Collection Volume 5- I love that Scream Factory has been putting these out.  I only have a couple of these so I need to get caught up.

Hills Run Red- A group of young horror fans go searching for a film that mysteriously vanished years ago but instead find that the demented killer from the movie is real, and he's thrilled to meet fans who will die gruesomely for his art.  I remember this being a solid horror movie and I need to upgrade from my burned copy I have of this title.  Nice job again from Scream Factory, over six hours of special features on this baby for a 81 minute movie.  Bravo!