This Review Roundup consists of four titles that were released over the past two weeks that I received after their release date. Up first is The Mummy and the Curse of the Jackals from 1969. The film is not good, but somehow has amazing human to jackal transformations. The acting is bad. The story is bad. The whole thing feels like a classic B-Movie, but somehow it has fantastic make-up effects when the human transforms into a jackal. The story is about an Egyptian princess who awakens in the 1960s and curses an archaeologist turning him into a jackal to protect her when her dead husband’s mummy also awakens. It’s 100% schlock and not nearly as cool as the cover-art for the new Blu-ray release. I guarantee it has a cult following and this is the worldwide disc premiere that includes multiple interviews and commentary. If you are a fan you’ll eat up this new release. It’s just schlocky enough to hold your attention especially with these characters set in Las Vegas.
Second we have A Dog Called…Vengeance. This 1977 flick was a total headscratcher. It’s about a man imprisoned as a political prisoner who escapes, but is somehow followed around the country by a dog. While the dictator’s men want him dead so does a dog. It would be a solid political drama with decent action for the time, but the dog part makes no sense to me. Maybe it’s a metaphor and something was lost in translation (or through the decades since it was made), but clearly the dog thing went over my head. The acting is solid. The story is still pretty relevant and universal, but I’m still baffled at the dog part. This is the first North American disc release so if you are a fan you’ll enjoy it. It comes with interviews and more.
Third is The Creature another film from 1977 involving a dog. This time a dog causes a woman to lose her baby and while on vacation with her husband to get over her loss, she befriends a similar dog. She takes it home and soon replaces the love she was going to have for her child with the dog and it causes issues with her husband. The relationship with the dog and woman gets quite odd and I can see why the movie was controversial. It’s probably the best of these three releases and it also comes with interviews and more.
Last we have The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Video Scrapbook. This 2-disc DVD set is a cool collection of oddball featurettes, footage and more from the Nelson family. If you own the TV series box set this is a great addition. What I liked most was the old school commercials and promo spots. It also comes with a lot of personal footage from family home movies and there’s a great conversation with Ozzie Nelson. I watched the series when the seasons came my way to review so I enjoyed watching this as a fun side piece to the show. If you are a fan of the TV series or the Nelsons themselves I recommend adding this.
The Nerds Templar 