Reviews

Blu-ray Review: TALES FROM THE CRYPT / VAULT OF HORROR Double Feature

TALES FROM THE CRYPT - VAULT OF HORROR Double Feature Blu-ray | ©2014 Scream! Factory

Tales from the Crypt Stars: Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Roy Dotrice, Richard Greene, Ian Hendry Writer: Milton Subotsky based on the TALES FROM THE CRYPT and VAULT OF HORROR comic books by William M. Gaines and Al Feldstein Director: Freddie Francis Vault of Horror Stars: Dawn Addams, Tom Baker, Michael Craig, Denholm Elliott, Glynes Johns Writer: Milton Subotsky based on the TALES FROM THE CRYPT and VAULT OF HORROR comic books by William M. Gaines, Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig Director: Freddie Francis Director: Roy Ward Baker Distributor: Shout! Factory Suggested Retail Price: 24.97 Before HBO transformed the classic EC Comic […]Read On »


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CD Review: THE DOLL SQUAD and JUVENILE JIVE soundtracks

JUVENILE JIVE soundtrack | ©2014 Monstrous Movie Music

After starting out with Grade-A re-performances for the energetic scores that graced such wonderful B- genre features as THE DEADLY MANTIS and DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS, David Schechter’s label Monstrous Movie Music has segued to releasing the actual soundtracks for even loonier sci-fi movies like KRONOS and MISSILE TO THE MOON, with some decidedly non-creature filled detours into westerns and prestige Ernest Gold scores in the bargain But for all of their sporadic and increasingly eccentric titles so far (whose latest batch includes a herd of deliriously scored oaters with THE GATLING GUN and a “Western Medley” collection), it’s a […]Read On »


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CD Review: OUIJA and JESSABELLE soundtracks

OUIJA soundtrack | ©2014 Back Lot Music

Anton Sanko has certainly come a long way in scoring horror films since the days of “Strangeland,” employing the off-kilter vibe of such dramatic indie scores as SCOTLAND, PA., LIFE IN FLIGHT and RABBIT HOLE to the far weirder likes of LAST WINTER and an episode a piece for FEAR ITSELF and MASTERS OF HORROR. In the process, Sanko has impressed by evolving from cool, sampled quirk to fully commanding darkly emotional orchestral forces for THE POSSESSION and THE DEVIL’S HAND, a talent that only becomes more uncannily formidable with the ghostly assaults of OUIJA and JESSABELLE. While the first […]Read On »


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CD Review: THE KNICK soundtrack

THE KNICK soundtrack | ©2014 MIlan Records

Where prolific filmmaker Steven Soderbergh has gone to Thomas Newman for the trippy ambience of SIDE EFFECTS, and David Holmes for the jazz groove of the OCEANS trilogy, Cliff Martinez continues to prove a reliable, experimental constant since director and composer made their indie bones on 1989s SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE. Both have considerably broadened their repertoire from that ambient hip-hop score which redefined the look and sound of alternative cinema, their collaborations ranging from the enraged crime percussion of THE LIMEY to the modernistic orchestral score of SOLARIS and the retro-virus suspense of CONTAGION. But whatever approach he’s taken, […]Read On »


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TV Review: SUPERNATURAL – Season 10 – “Ask Jeeves”

Jared Padalecki as Sam, Izabella Miko as Olivia, and Jensen Ackles as Dean in SUPERNATURAL - Season 10 - "Ask Jeeves" | ©2014 The CW/Michael Courtney

Stars: Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Izabella Miko, Kevin McNulty, Gillian Vigman, Debra Lynne McCabe, Clare Filipow, Marcus Rosner Writers: Eric Charmelo & Nicole Snyder, series created by Eric Kripke Director: John McCarthy Network: The CW, Tuesdays @ 9 PM Original Airdate: November 18, 2014 SUPERNATURAL goes from the sublime (the previous week’s “Fan Fiction”) to the serviceable with “Ask Jeeves,” a pastiche of CLUE and MURDER, SHE WROTE (visually and verbally name-checked here), with the addition of a monster. The best thing about “Ask Jeeves” – kudos to the editing department – may be the “Then” sequence, i.e., SUPERNATURAL’s catch-up […]Read On »


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CD Review: REAR WINDOW soundtrack

REAR WINDOW soundtrack | ©2014 Movie Score Media

In a particularly striking case of turning fate’s rotten apples into ironic oranges, quadriplegic actor Christopher Reeve went with his immobilizing accident to gain the opportunity of bring true realism to the part of the paralyzed, voyeuristic hero – whom unlike the broken-legged James Stewart of the Hitchcock original – isn’t going to be getting out of his wheelchairl. Beyond Reeve get an Emmy nomination for his performance here, the TV remake’s second Emmy recognition would deservedly go to composer David Shire. With such memorably tense scores to his credit as THE CONVERSATION and ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, Shire approached […]Read On »


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CD Review: SEE NO EVIL soundtrack

SEE NO EVIL soundtrack | ©2014 Intrada Records

Where Henry Mancini got to play blind woman’s bluff with Audrey Hepburn in WAIT UNTIL DARK with creeping restraint, composer Elmer Bernstein got to scare the already-gone sight out of Mia Farrow with way more symphonic lavishness in this 1971 thriller from BOSTON STRANGLER director Richard Fleischer, who opened up the basic girl-in-peril idea from a Manhattan apartment to an English home and its surrounding countryside – where nearly all of the occupants have gone lights out thanks to a cowboy-boot wearing killer. Where Bernstein was best known for intimate Hollywood dramas or period epics, the composer was equally adept […]Read On »


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Movie Review: THE BABADOOK

THE BABADOOK poster | ©2014 IFC Midnight

Rating: Not Rated Stars: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, Barbara West Writer: Jennifer Kent Director: Jennifer Kent Distributor: IFC Midnight Release Date: theatrical/VOD, November 28, 2014 Writer/director Jennifer Kent’s film THE BABADOOK pulls off the harder-than-hell trick of keeping us guessing whether what we’re seeing is supernatural or psychological all the way through, without ever making us feel cheated. More, the filmmaker keeps us plenty scared throughout, using the kind of storybook imagery that leaves lifelong impressions. Amelia (Essie Davis) is a single Australian mum who has it very rough. Her beloved husband died in a car crash when […]Read On »


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CD Review: WHITE BIRD IN A BLIZZARD soundtrack

WHITE BIRD IN A BLIZZARD soundtrack | ©2014 Lakeshore Records

From “The Doom Generation” to SPLENDOR and KABOOM! Greg Araki’s films are Technicolor, sexed-up acid trips, full of bad behavior that can range from the hilarious to the disturbing – but never without empathy for his misfit characters. Two composers to particularly to get that vibe are Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd, who first teamed to give a beautiful, translucent synth-rock vibe to the surreal UFO imagery that hid two young men’s awful truth behind Araki’s MYSTERIOUS SKIN. Now the filmmaker sends another teen on a hallucinatory vision question to find the WHITE BIRD IN A BLIZZARD, a caged bird […]Read On »


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CD Review: ST. VINCENT soundtrack

ST. VINCENT soundtrack | ©2014 Sony Classical Records

MARLEY AND ME composer Theodore Shapiro has always had a thing for the comedic underdog in such scores as DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY and ONCE CHANCE, all while creating clearly distinct musical characters for these seeming losers, whether it be wacky percussion, dream-like melody or operatic triumph. But he’s likely never gotten a true, cantankerous schlub like Bill Murray’s boozing Vietnam vet who seems to be anything but ST. VINCENT. Yet like all of his previous life-losers, Shapiro finds a heart of gold underneath them with his catchy, rhythmic approach. The trick here […]Read On »


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