Stephen King's The Shining (Two Disc Special Edition)
by Mick Garris
from Warner Home Video
Stephen King's The Shining is a new adaptation from the author himself, made for television, that bears very little resemblance to the 1980 Stanley Kubrick version. That's not surprising since Kubrick threw out most of King's novel and presented his own version of the story. Here King redresses the balance in a miniseries that follows his original almost to the letter, and manages to be effectively creepy despite the budget and censorship limitations of the TV format.
Stephen Weber takes over the role of Jack Torrance, the caretaker who slowly descends into madness in the haunted Overlook Hotel. His performance is as far from Jack Nicholson as you could get, with his insanity building slowly and menacingly rather than being virtually mad from the get-go. Rebecca De Mornay is superb as Wendy Torrance, struggling to hold her fragile family together amid the spooky goings-on. Young Courtland Mead plays Danny, whose unique gifts give the story its title, as one of those infuriating TV brats who overacts left, right, and center. Fortunately, there are enough creepy moments and a number of frights to hold the whole thing together, the woman-in-the-bathtub scene being a standout shocker. Sure, there is nothing quite like Nicholson's "Here's Johnny!" moment, but this is the story King wanted to tell and it still shines brighter than most of the other recent screen adaptations of his work. --Jonathan Weir
Jack Torrance and his family move into the sprawling, vacant Overlook Hotel to get away from it all. Away from the alcoholism that derails Jack's writing career. Away from the violent outbursts that mar Jack's past. But Jack's young son Danny knows better. He possesses a psychic gift called the shining. - a gift the hotel's vile spirits desperately want.
DVD Features:
Additional Scenes:11 additional scenes
Audio Commentary:Feature-length commentary by Stephen King, cast members Steven Weber and Cynthia Garris, Director Mick Garris and select crew
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
The Return of the Living Dead
by Dan O'Bannon
from MGM (Video & DVD)
"Do ya wanna party?" challenges the soundtrack to this freaky and funny reworking of George Romero's Night of the Living Dead. Paced to the beat of a pounding rock score, this comic flesh feast delivers both laughs and outlandish gore. No longer lumbering, moaning creatures, these lithe, feral, and cunning undead claw their way out of the cemetery and into the skulls of a human smorgasbord. They even master the art of home delivery: "Send more cops," croaks a corpse into a patrol car radio. Director Dan O'Bannon even takes pains to explain their motivation between the tributes to the granddaddy of zombie horrors ("Well, it worked in the movie!" screams James Karen when a pickax to the skull hardly phases a lively cadaver). Not that it really matters amid the gore and gallows humor, but it does add a kick to the cynically sinister climax. --Sean Axmaker
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the cemetery'those brain-eating zombies are back and hungry for more tasty mortals. A fiendish mix of outrageous humor and heart-stopping terror, The Return of the Living Dead is a veritable smorgasbord of fun (LA Herald-Examiner) filled with skin-crawling jolts, eye-popping visuals and relentless surprise! On his first day on the job at an army surplus store, poor Freddy unwittingly releases nerve gas from a secret U.S. military canister, unleashing an unbelievable terror. The gas re-animates a corps of corpses, who arise from their graves with a ravenous hunger for human brains! And luckily for those carnivorous cadavers, there is a group of partying teens nearby, just waiting to be eaten!
The Return of the Living Dead (Collector's Edition)
from MGM (Video & DVD)
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the cemetery'those brain-eating zombies are back and hungry for more tasty mortals. A fiendish mix of outrageous humor and heart-stopping terror The Return of the Living Dead is a veritable smorgasbord of fun (LA Herald-Examiner) filled with skin-crawling jolts eye-popping visuals and relentless surprise! On his first day on the job at an army surplus store poor Freddy unwittingly releases nerve gas from a secret U.S. military canister unleashing an unbelievable terror. The gas re-animates a corps of corpses who arise from their graves with a ravenous hunger for human brains! And luckily for those carnivorous cadavers there is a group of partying teens nearby just waiting to be eaten!System Requirements:Running Time: 114 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: R UPC: 027616085474 Manufacturer No: M108547
American Zombie
Filmmakers Grace Lee ( The Grace Lee Project ) and John Solomon ( Nonsense Man ) team up to shoot a documentary about high-functioning zombies living in Los Angeles and their struggles to gain acceptance in human society.Despite their wildly different working styles Grace and John manage to chronicle the hopes and dreams of four fascinating subjects: IVAN a convenience-store clerk who longs for a career in publishing; LISA a florist trying to recover her lost memories; JUDY a hopeless romantic who learns to accept her true nature; and JOEL (pronounced Yo-El ) a committed political activist striving for zombie rights. As Grace strives to get to know the zombies on their own terms John is eager to uncover their darker side and rallies to get the crew permission to shoot at a three-day zombies-only retreat called Live Dead where the documentary takes an unexpected and dangerous turn. What transpires there is beyond anything the filmmakers could imagine as they are forced to re-evaluate their ideas about tolerance identity politics and the future of the human race.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR/COMEDIC HORROR UPC: 881394105027 Manufacturer No: CLS1050
Tapeheads
by Bill Fishman
from Starz / Anchor Bay
This underground comedy pairs two well-known actors with unique comic timing between them in a story of pursuing dreams amidst harsh realities. Two luckless life-long friends and suddenly unemployed security guards (Tim Robbins and John Cusack) seek to fulfill a lifelong dream try their hand at music-video production. Along the way they encounter the worst the music and television business has to offer, falling victim to a few scams and all the while clinging to their unbeatable optimism. Finally they hit upon an idea to resurrect a long-dead 1960s group, with predictably disastrous results. Blues legends Junior Walker and Sam Moore make appearances, and the soundtrack is a treat, featuring the likes of Bo Diddley and Devo. As a satire of the video age, it's hit and miss, but enough comic moments exist between the two leads to make Tapeheads an interesting diversion. --Robert Lane
O Pioneers!
by Glenn Jordan
from Hallmark
Academy Award (r)-winning actress Jessica Lange heads an extraordinary cast in this breathtaking adaptation of Willa Cather's turn-of-the-century epic saga of settlers carving a home from the wilderness and finding the dreams of a lifetime.
Alexandra Bergson is still a young woman when she inherits the family farm and struggles to carve a home and a fortune from the the windswept prairie. Because of her responsibility to the land and her younger brothers, she must give up her one chance for love - though she's never forgotten the teenager who stirred her heart, then left to find his future elsewhere. He returns fifteen years later and rekindles within Alexandra a long-buried dream and a new-found desire in this timeless masterpiece of life and love, tragedy and triumph as sweeping as the land and the settlers it portrays.
The Blue Iguana
by John Lafia
from Paramount
A poor excuse for a bounty hunter is out to get rich by helping the I.R.S. recover $20 million from a crooked little South American bank. Crossing the border, he feels right at home in the Blue Iguana Bar which is crawling with thugs, killers, smugglers, evil women, and crazy action.
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