From Scream comes the stateside Blu-ray and DVD release of Cockneys vs. Zombies. Cockneys is kind of like a less funny (though still funny) Shaun of the Dead mixed with the inept thuggery so frequently found in the work of Guy Ritchie - in fact it utilizes a few quick editing techniques found in Ritchie films like Snatch and Lock, Stock. I'm working on a review for it now, but to sum up it's a bit derivative but still a very entertaining zombie comedy for those of you out there who aren't sick of comedic zombies.
Thanks to Shout! Factory we also finally get one of my most eagerly awaited releases of the year, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
. In my opinion The Movie is lesser MST (thanks to the studio interference and shortened running time) but it's still a lot of fun, and we finally, finally get a release with some proper extra features. I'm particularly excited to get a chance to see the deleted scenes after all these years.Also out there today are a couple more Bava titles from Kino; Five Dolls For an August Moon & A Bay of Blood Both are fairly light on features, but each title does include a Tim Lucas commentary.
FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON is Mario Bava's deliriously mod spin on an Agatha Christie style whodunit.
Bava was so closely associated with the horror genre that this twisting mystery was never released theatrically in the U.S., but it is deliciously entertaining all the same. A space age island retreat is visited by a group of friends and business associates, one of whom is a scientist who has invented a revolutionary chemical process, and is fending off various offers to buy it. Soon the vacationers start dying, and the survivors begin to wonder who has the most to gain from these murders most foul.
One of the most influential horror films of all time, Mario Bava's A BAY OF BLOOD (1971, aka Twitch of the Death Nerve) is the spurting artery from which all future slasher films would flow.
When crippled Countess Federica is murdered at her isolated mansion, a gruesome battle ensues to secure the rights to her valuable property around the bay. Everyone, from illegitimate children to shady real estate agents, stakes a claim, only to be killed in increasingly bizarre ways, from simple shootings to impalement by fishing spear. The makeup effects are by Carlo Rambaldi, who would later earn Oscars for his work in Alien (1979) and E.T. (1982).
Rodman Flender's stupidly hysterical satanic stoner possession comedy Idle Hands finally makes its Blu-ray debut from Image. I actually just saw this again for the first time in several years, and it's not as funny as it was to me when I was 18, but there are still plenty of great jokes and references to a ton of classic horror films, and even a quick nod to The French Connection. It's also worth a look for an early appearance by Jessica Alba who in my opinion never looked hotter than she does here. The Blu-ray looks and sounds great, but we get totally dicked in the extra features department. The old DVD has some pretty great bonus material, so if you have the DVD you'll want to hang on to it.
And finally, Twitter's favorite shark film Sharknado hits Blu-ray and DVD today. This one really blew up on the internet and I'm not sure why because SyFy has been making these kinds of dumbass CGI-tacular pieces of crap for a decade. Look it up, there's a hundred of these things. I caught this one on one of its many repeat showings, and it's not nearly terrible enough to have caused such an uproar online. It's a bad movie, sure, but while it's bad enough to be enjoyable, it's not bad enough to be hilarious, certainly not enough to have garnered as much attention as it did. Still, it's entertaining enough to be worth a look, though I don't see myself picking it up unless I can get it for $2 from a Hastings sale or something, especially since it'll probably air on SyFy many, many times. For the best in terribly awful CGI shark cinema, might I recommend Shark Attack 3: Megalodon.
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