Up first this week is Cocaine Werewolf from cult director Mark Polonia. If you aren’t familiar with the films of Mark Polonia or his previous work with his late twin brother John then this movie isn’t for you. Mark is one of the Mt. Rushmore directors of no-budget horror who’s been making movies for decades now. I’m talking no-budget not low-budget filmmaking with people who probably shouldn’t be acting and effects that would make a regular movie goer run out of the theater. But I’ll be honest, I’ve seen well over a dozen of them. Cocaine Werewolf cashes in on the creatures taking cocaine craze and has everything you expect in a Polonia film. There is nudity, bad acting with familiar Polonia staples, laughable computer effects yet good practical effects, lots of blood and it looks like it was shot on a 1990s camcorder. Watching the effects of the werewolf’s heart when it does coke will make you laugh out loud. The filmmaker crew in the movie (it’s a movie within a movie story) are all stereotypical indie film crew members. It’s bad, but if you like this stuff, it’s well worth watching. I know I’ll make reference to it for the rest of the year and I won’t be able to say that about most of the Hollywood movies I see at the theater every week. Polonia fans will eat it up and the Blu-ray comes with Director Commentary from the icon himself Mark Polonia.
Second we have When Titans Ruled the Earth: Clash of the Titans and Wrath of the Titans in a new 2-movie 4K release. This is the 2010 Clash of the Titans remake with Sam Worthington, not the 1981 film with Harry Hamlin. I hadn’t seen either film since their theatrical release and didn’t realize how many stars were in them. Clash of the Titans stars Worthington as Perseus, the demigod son of Zeus (Liam Neeson) with Ralph Fiennes as Hades and Gemma Arterton. I don’t think I would have realized back in 2010 who Mads Mikkelsen and Nicholas Hoult were at the time so their appearances surprised me. Is the movie great? No, it relies too much on CGI and a lot of it looks terribly fake including Worthington riding the Pegasus and the Kraken being released. Its sequel Wrath of the Titans also features Worthington, Neeson and Fiennes in their roles, but Rosamund Pike replaced a different actress from the first film. It also stars Bill Nighy, Édgar Ramírez, Toby Kebbell, Danny Huston, and Lily James. Like Clash it relies way too much on CGI with Kronos and the cyclops looking very fake. It was a box office disappointment that got the third film in the trilogy outright cancelled. They lack the charm of Hamlin’s film, but are serviceable enough for what they are. They really wanted Worthington to be an action star, but beyond the Avatar films he never really broke through. If you are a fan of the franchise then this new 4K box set is pretty neat.
Third we have Demons and Demons 2 on 4K. From director Lamberto Bava (son of Mario Bava) and produced by Dario Argento, they are mid 1980s Italian horror through and through. Both are pretty much the same concept, people watching a movie about demons who then get involved in fighting demons to survive, but man are there some amazing practical effects in them. Demons takes place in a movie theater where all the guests are given complimentary tickets to a mysterious movie screening and after one guest (a hooker type) scratches her face on a mask in the lobby, the bloodshed starts matching the events of the film they are watching. Demons 2 takes place in an apartment complex type building with people in their apartments watching a movie on TV. There is one apartment with a party going on and others with a young kid, a pregnant wife, etc. Like the first film there are side characters in a car outside the events of the buildings that find their way into the buildings. Despite being Italian films they have songs from Bill Idol, Mötley Crüe, Rick Springfield, etc. Demons 2 is also the film debut for actress Asia Argento, daughter of Dario. Are they great movies? Not really and they are more zombie-esque than anything else, but the practical effects are fantastic. Those of us who prefer 80s slasher types with blood and make-up effects will like them. I probably hadn’t seen either film since the 1990s so it was a nice trip down memory lane. They are also jampacked with bonus features like interviews, commentary and more.
Last we have The Escort. This film is from Croatia, but I could easily see Hollywood remaking it. It’s about a filmmaker/actor who after a night out with two friends goes back to his hotel room where one friend had sent him an escort. After some fun he wakes up to find the woman dead. The hotel staff who are used to this sort of thing help make the problem go away, but soon he finds that it comes at a cost. As his happily married life starts to unravel, the film doesn’t go where you expect it to. In fact if Hollywood does remake it, it will certainly have a different ending because I can’t see an American audience going for the ending which I actually liked. The lead actor is extremely good and the film is a tight thriller that you aren’t sure how far it will go. I liked that it kept you guessing and the ending certainly isn’t what you expect. A nice little surprise which I recommend.
The Nerds Templar 