Lynch, Richard

Halloween - Unrated Director's Cut (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)

The original slasher film about Michael Myers the psychotic killer who dons a mask and terrorizes his hometown is re-imagined by edgy director Rob Zombie. System Requirements:Run Time: 121 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR/SLASHER MOVIES UPC: 796019805575 Manufacturer No: 80557

More of a supercharged revamp than a remake, Rob Zombie's take on John Carpenter's Halloween expands the back story of masked killer Michael Myers in an attempt to examine the motivation for his first deadly attack, as well as some reasons for his longevity as a horror icon. Zombie's Myers is a blank-eyed teen (played by Daeg Faerch) whose burgeoning mental problems are left unchecked in a horrific home environment; harassed by schoolmates, a randy sister, and his mother's deadbeat boyfriend (William Forsythe, terrific as usual), Myers' homicidal explosion seems inevitable, and intervention by Dr. Sam Loomis (Malcolm McDowell, who offers a fast-talking, hippiefied version of the Donald Pleasance character) does little to impede his development into a mute, unstoppable killing machine (Tyler Mane) bent on finishing off the only survivor of his family's massacre--his sister, now grown into teenaged Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton). Opening up the psychological motivation of a cipher like Michael Myers is an interesting approach, but Zombie's script possesses neither a depth of character nor dialogue to offer more than a clichéd thumbnail character sketch, and devoting over a hour of the unrated cut's 120-minute-plus running time to this history feels bloated and self-indulgent (especially when compared to the lean efficiency of the Carpenter original). Zombie's Halloween isn't terribly suspenseful, either; he has a keen eye for visuals and the details of chaotic environments, but his scares are nothing more than brutal showcases for his special effects team. The end result barely surpasses the original film's numerous sequels, though the Who's Who of cult and character actors in the cast (including Zombie regulars Sid Haig, Bill Moseley and Ken Foree, as well as Brad Dourif, Udo Kier, Clint Howard, Richard Lynch, Danny Trejo, Dee Wallace, and Danielle Harris) adds a touch of late-night monster movie charm. However, the film's best performance belongs to the director's spouse, Sheri Moon Zombie, who brings unexpected pathos to the role of Myers' downtrodden mother.

The two-disc Unrated Director's Cut offers a full disc's worth of extras that should please Zombie fans; chief among the supplemental features is his commentary, which details the film's shooting history and the numerous edits required to deliver the theatrical version. A making-of featurette offers further details of Zombie's vision for the film, and there are featurettes on his cast choices and the many masks that Myers makes while incarcerated. Seventeen deleted scenes (two of which feature Adrienne Barbeau and Tom Towles) and an alternate ending (all with Zombie's commentary) are also provided, as well as footage from the casting sessions. A blooper reel, which is highlighted by unchecked mischief by McDowell and Dourif, offers the set's sole moment of levity. -- Paul Gaita

The Seven-Ups

Seven-ups are those criminals due to serve at least that number of year in jail -- if they get caught. Roy Scheider is a cop who catches them.System Requirements:Running Time: 103 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: PG UPC: 024543238614 Manufacturer No: 2233861

The Seven-Ups of the title are a hot-dogging special unit of the New York Police Department led by street smart Roy Scheider, who applies unconventional techniques to crack tough cases and nab untouchable criminals. When a pair of police impersonators pulls a series of mob kidnappings, the local hoods get very nervous and Scheider's boys investigate, leading to a squad member's death that turns the case personal. Director Philip D'Antoni previously produced Bullitt and The French Connection and learned the importance of a good car chase: with craftsmanlike efficiency he delivers a textbook example of the inner-city chase, lacking style but chock full of squealing tires, careening cars, fleeing pedestrians, and dynamite crackups. The New York City street shooting and the ever-present street sounds give the film a solid sense of place, and Scheider applies his usual thoughtful intensity as the vengeful cop, but the rest of the cops are woefully undeveloped. Only Tony LoBianco, as Scheider's childhood buddy turned hustler and street snitch, has any real presence next to Scheider. In the pantheon of '70s cop thrillers, The Seven-Ups ranks below the more vigorous and ambiguous classics like Serpico and The French Connection, but excellent stunt work and gritty action raises it above the pack. --Sean Axmaker

The Forbidden Dance Is Lambada

The Forbidden Dance is the story of Nisa (Laura Herring) a beautiful princess from Brazil who concerned over the destruction of her homeland and the rainforests by a giant multinational corporation travels to Los Angeles to meet with the company's chairman. But her visit is in vain - she is prevented from arranging a meeting. Despondent and discouraged Nisa accepts a job as a maid to make ends meet while she's in America. There she falls in love with Jason (Jeff James) the handsome son of her employer. She teaches him the passionate and erotic dance of her home ... Lambada. Together they decide the only way to deliver the message to the American people is to enter a Lambada dance contest. But Jason's ex-girlfriend wants to prevent it and the corporation wants to prevent it - and both are willing to stop at nothing to keep them off the dance floor.System Requirements:Running Time: 97 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG-13 UPC: 043396016651 Manufacturer No: 01665

Invasion U.S.A.

Chuck Norris himself cowrote Invasion U.S.A., a movie that's partly a right-wing paranoid fantasy and partly a prescient vision of contemporary terrorism. A Soviet superagent named Rostov leads an invasion of guerrilla squads who, after landing in Florida, spread throughout the U.S. and start shooting bazookas into suburban homes, inciting race riots by impersonating the police and attacking ethnic events, and planting bombs in churches and on school buses. Soon martial law descends as the country sinks into chaos. Only American superagent Matt Hunter (Norris) can take Rostov on, and eventually the two men face off, Rostov in full-body black leather, Hunter in black gloves and painfully tight blue jeans. For anyone who yearns for the simplicity of the cold war and enjoys a vengeance-laden action flick with lots of guns and exploding cars (but little martial arts), Invasion U.S.A. will provide some cinematic comfort food. --Bret Fetzer

Little Nikita

The same year that River Phoenix made Running on Empty, in which he played the son of '60s radicals on the run from the law and hiding in plain sight, he also made this film, which is even less interesting than the vastly overrated Running. And, in this one, he plays a kid whose parents are, in fact, deep-cover Soviet moles (oops, the Berlin Wall is coming down--bad timing there) who are about to be brought to the surface. But Sonny Boy is being indoctrinated by a kindly FBI agent (Sidney Poitier)--and is torn between battling those dirty Commies and helping them because those dirty Commies are Mom and Dad. As silly as it sounds, building to an ersatz action finale. --Marshall Fine

Mummy's Kiss

Scarecrow

A pair of drifters hook up and learn much about each other and themselves when they scheme to save their pennies to buy a car wash.Running Time: 113 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 012569688865

One of the great lost buddy films of the 1970s, this Jerry Schatzberg movie somehow never found its audience, despite the fact that both lead actors were riding high: Hackman from The French Connection, Pacino from The Godfather. They play a pair of drifters, seeing America by thumb, who hook up and discover unexpected soul mates in each other. Hackman is the loner who would rather pile on another layer of clothes than chance letting someone get close to him; Pacino is the likably funny loser who gets under Hackman's skin and teaches him to open up. Together, they hatch a plan to save up and buy their own car wash. But try as they do to keep each other out of trouble, their friendship provides only limited protection, though each take something positive away. Endearing performances that never sink to sentimentality; Pacino, in particular, proves that he could just as easily have been a screen comic as one of the great dramatic actors. --Marshall Fine

Halloween (Two-Disc Special Edition)

More of a supercharged revamp than a remake, Rob Zombie's take on John Carpenter's Halloween expands the back story of masked killer Michael Myers in an attempt to examine the motivation for his first deadly attack, as well as some reasons for his longevity as a horror icon. Zombie's Myers is a blank-eyed teen (played by Daeg Faerch) whose burgeoning mental problems are left unchecked in a horrific home environment; harassed by schoolmates, a randy sister, and his mother's deadbeat boyfriend (William Forsythe, terrific as usual), Myers' homicidal explosion seems inevitable, and intervention by Dr. Sam Loomis (Malcolm McDowell, who offers a fast-talking, hippiefied version of the Donald Pleasance character) does little to impede his development into a mute, unstoppable killing machine (Tyler Mane) bent on finishing off the only survivor of his family's massacre--his sister, now grown into teenaged Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton). Opening up the psychological motivation of a cipher like Michael Myers is an interesting approach, but Zombie's script possesses neither a depth of character nor dialogue to offer more than a clichéd thumbnail character sketch, and devoting over a hour of the unrated cut's 120-minute-plus running time to this history feels bloated and self-indulgent (especially when compared to the lean efficiency of the Carpenter original). Zombie's Halloween isn't terribly suspenseful, either; he has a keen eye for visuals and the details of chaotic environments, but his scares are nothing more than brutal showcases for his special effects team. The end result barely surpasses the original film's numerous sequels, though the Who's Who of cult and character actors in the cast (including Zombie regulars Sid Haig, Bill Moseley and Ken Foree, as well as Brad Dourif, Udo Kier, Clint Howard, Richard Lynch, Danny Trejo, Dee Wallace, and Danielle Harris) adds a touch of late-night monster movie charm. However, the film's best performance belongs to the director's spouse, Sheri Moon Zombie, who brings unexpected pathos to the role of Myers' downtrodden mother.

The two-disc Unrated Director's Cut offers a full disc's worth of extras that should please Zombie fans; chief among the supplemental features is his commentary, which details the film's shooting history and the numerous edits required to deliver the theatrical version. A making-of featurette offers further details of Zombie's vision for the film, and there are featurettes on his cast choices and the many masks that Myers makes while incarcerated. Seventeen deleted scenes (two of which feature Adrienne Barbeau and Tom Towles) and an alternate ending (all with Zombie's commentary) are also provided, as well as footage from the casting sessions. A blooper reel, which is highlighted by unchecked mischief by McDowell and Dourif, offers the set's sole moment of levity. -- Paul Gaita

The original slasher film about Michael Myers the psychotic killer who dons a mask and terrorizes his hometown is re-imagined by edgy director Rob Zombie.System Requirements:Run Time: 110 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR/SLASHER MOVIES Rating: R UPC: 796019805582 Manufacturer No: 80558

The Formula

A detective uncovers a formula that was devised by the Nazis in WWII to make gasoline from synthetic products thereby eliminating the necessity for oil --- and oil companies. A major oil company uncovers this and tries to destroy the formula and anyone who knows about it.System Requirements:Running Time: 93 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: MYSTERY/SUSPENSE/ESPIONAGE UPC: 879431000480 Manufacturer No: MAC48

The Ninth Configuration

The lunatics are running the asylum... but are they really lunatics? Is Colonel Kane (Stacy Keach) really a noted psychiatrist, assigned to supervise patients in an experimental government clinic, or is he really "Killer" Kane, a decorated U.S. Marine who committed atrocities in Vietnam before going insane? And why did Captain Cutshaw (Scott Wilson) go berserk just seconds before a scheduled rocket launch? These are just some of the puzzles that will eventually be solved in The Ninth Configuration, a giddy and often brilliant drama created by William Peter Blatty, who wrote The Exorcist before directing this adaptation of his own novel, Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane. A satirical study of war's traumatic aftermath, the film uses battle psychosis as the springboard for a delirious and scathingly intelligent human tragedy, laced with some of the wittiest dialogue you're ever likely to hear.

The movie boasts a veritable menagerie of crazy characters, all brought vividly to life by a stellar supporting cast. One patient is preparing a production of Shakespeare with an all-dog cast. Another is convinced he's Superman, and the resident doctor can't seem to find his trousers. But there's a method to this madness, and it takes a barroom brawl--one of the most memorable in movie history--to provide the harsh slap of reality to Blatty's elaborate group therapy scheme. When the true purpose of The Ninth Configuration is revealed, the film (and particularly the fine performances of Keach and Wilson) reveals a depth of compassionate sanity that may take you completely by surprise. --Jeff Shannon

In a castle on a remote island in the Pacific, insane army soldiers are sent for treatment. Psychiatrist Col. Kane's (Keach) discovers his own need for therapy through the treatment of his patients.