New Release Tuesday

As a series of strange and violent events start happening, an alcoholic policeman realizes that he has been turned into a werewolf as part of a larger plan, so he investigates with the help of his partner and his friend.  I have been looking forward to this Canadian gem for a while and was surprised to see the DVD got a release today 2 months earlier than the blu ray.  This looks like a good time, like Dirty Harry only hairier!

Not much needs to be said about these classic 80s movies for one of the best known directors of that decade.  I have not seen Weird Science in a long time and I love Bill Paxton in that.

A merc is hired by the FBI to track down a powerful recluse criminal. A woman is also trying to track him down for her own personal vendetta.  This is from director Michael Winner (Death Wish 1,2,3…) and has a great lineup with James Coburn, Sophia Loren, and Eli “Tuco” Wallach.  I am surprised Charles Bronson was not in this action flick.

Four young campers go back-packing through the mountains for a relaxing weekend in the wilderness. They are out camping in broad daylight, while someone else is killing tourists in the woods.  Well regarded as one of the worst slasher movies ever.

A routine military exercise turns into a nightmare in the Scotland wilderness.  I never saw this but it is from Scream Factory so it will be an outstanding release.

Planet of the Vampires

 

Kino Lorber released this cult classic on blu ray last year and I thought is was finally time to check it out.  This was a American/ Italian co-production that came out in 1965 and is directed by horror icon Mario Bava.  Astronauts on two ships receive a distress signal and crash land on a mysterious planet to investigate.  After their landing some of the astronauts become possessed and start killing each other so the remaining group has to stick together as the bodies start to pile up and they are also trying to fix their ship so they can leave. 

While checking on their mates in the other ship they find them all dead and also find ruins of anther spaceship that appears to have been there awhile.  Inside the ship they find large skeletons of a different species.  Watch to find out if the remaining crew is able to escape this planet.  Is a lot of this sounding familiar?  Yeah, I would say Alien and a whole slew of sci-fi movies borrowed a bit from this classic.  Also, why Planet of the Vampires?  There is not any fanged, caped creatures running around  here, Planet of the ___ insert new name here would be a more fitting title.

Also, look at the astronaut uniforms:

Looks like another group might have borrowed that idea too:

Anyway this was a really good classic sci-fi flick.  Give it a spin some time.

Movie Poster Wednesday- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

New Release Tuesday

The greatest Olympic Wrestling Champion brother team joins Team Foxcatcher led by multimillionaire sponsor John E. du Pont as they train for the 1988 games in Seoul - a union that leads to unlikely circumstances.  A good looking drama as Steve Carell and Channing Tatum make good choices of taking different roles and I commend them for that.

An ancient African prince, turned into a vampire by Dracula himself, finds himself in modern Los Angeles.  Classic cult vampire double pack from Scream Factory so it will look and sound great or shall I say it will be blacktacular!

Walt Longmire is the dedicated and unflappable sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming. Widowed only a year, he is a man in psychic repair but buries his pain behind his brave face, unassuming grin and dry wit.  This is a great action drama that A&E foolishly dropped but Net Flix picked it so Longmire lives at least for another season so it can ties up some loose ends left dangling.

The original is often credited with being the first big blockbuster movie and deservedly so as it is one of the best movies ever but these sequels were obvious cash ins and are not that good.  I do have a soft spot for Jaws 3 as I remember seeing that in the theaters in 3D.