TAHARA (2020) - Film Movement

Tahara
Film Movement

Original Release Date January 25th, 2020
Written by Jess Zeidman
Directed by Olivia Peace
Starring Madeline Grey DeFreece, Rachel Sennott, Daniel Taveras, Shlomit Azoulay
Language English

Get your copy HERE from Orbit, or HERE from Vinegar Syndrome

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, MovieJawn Podcast Director and Staff Writer 

Overview:

Tahara comes to Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome partner label Film Movement. The first feature from director Olivia Peace, the film is creative and well-executed. Film Movement's release of Tahara looks and sounds solid, but is light on bonus features.

The Movie Itself: Good

Tahara isn't anything wildly original, but it is done quite well. Two best friends, Carrie and Hannah (Madeline Grey DeFreece and Rachel Sennott, respectively) attend the funeral service and the mandatory post-funeral discussion session in the synagogue for a recently deceased classmate. Their attentions, however, are on a million other things: Tristan (Daniel Taveras) the cute boy Hannah is crushing on, the performative grieving of some other classmates, and a recent party attended by Hannah and the deceased, but NOT Carrie. The fact that the two are never quite on the same emotional wavelength creates subtle but constant friction in a way that feels authentically like high school. When Hannah cajoles Carrie into sharing a "practice kiss", a variety of new feelings bloom in Carrie for her frustrating and somewhat self-centered bestie.

But Tahara avoids melodrama. Since almost the entire film takes place in the presence of others, there can be very few histrionics. When Carrie and Hannah argue, it is done through looks and brief gestures, or hushed tirades delivered just around the corner, all of which adds to the frustrations inherent in the high school melodrama genre. The characters can never get it all out of their system, and just have to let off enough steam so they won't immediately explode, then continue carrying this weight until the next opportunity to turn the pressure release.

The performances are what stays with you. Carrie and Hannah’s friendship feels real because it’s so nuanced. Hannah is kind of a jerk and when the film opens, you don’t know whether that’s just how she is or not. The fact that Carrie seems so put-off by her behavior is your first inkling that something is going on that we’re not being told, and that very small scale mystery, that question, is what keeps your attention. Everything else that happens, internally or externally, all functions to make aspects of that central relationship clear(er). As a character piece, its strength is in its nuance.

If you’ve ever had complicated feelings for a friend, or had to deal with the slow realization that someone you cared about is not who you thought they were, Tahara will likely hit home even if you weren’t a young, black, Jewish, queer girl at the time. Some things, like bad friends and messy emotions, are universal.

The Packaging: Good

This is the slightly sturdier, clear plastic Blu-ray case traditionally used by Vinegar Syndrome and its partner labels. The cover presents Carrie and Hannah's heads positioned counter to each other and sideways, with a cloudy purple, pink, and blue background. The interior image on the back of the cover is of the two friends looking at each other, tinted fully purple.

The release comes with a handsome booklet featuring an essay from entertainment journalist Sara Clements discussing the film's themes and highlighting the more unique aspects of its story. There's nothing unique about the release, physically, but it is quite handsome.

The Video: Good

With the caveat that this is an independent production from a first time feature director, I think Tahara looks pretty good. The vast majority of the run time is spent in a classroom, and related hallways and bathrooms, which leads to a predominance of overcast, slightly desaturated lighting, but it's a very pleasant, soft look overall.

But there are some really inventive and creative moments here. When Carrie and Hannah share Hannah's "practice kiss", the film's dimensions expand. Initially shot in a square aspect ratio, the kiss literally expands Carrie's world in a way that's extremely clever, ambitious, and quietly melodramatic. There are also brief animation and claymation interludes that further elaborate on the characters' inner turmoil. They're not long, or especially involved, so don't expect to see Mad God stuff here, but they feel authentically like the flights of fancy that kids experiencing these feelings might imagine. It's good stuff that stands in contrast to the comparatively dull everyday of their real world.

The Audio: Average

Similarly, I have no real complaints with the sound mixing of the film itself. Though it's light on score, the dialogue mixing is very good. Again: most of the film is in a synagogue, with a few scenes in bathrooms and the like, but there's no wild sound echoes, squeaky shoes, or anything else I associate with my time in similar buildings.

The mix through my three-channel sound bar was perfect, and I never had to reach for the volume knob because of a sudden volume change ...except, for some reason, the menu is incredibly loud when compared to the film itself. This seems to happen sometimes, and I just do not get it. Obviously, I didn't notice this at the start of my viewing experience, but once the flick ended and the menu started back up, whatever mumbly r&b track that ends the film burst, with renewed vigor, from my speakers. It was not the most pleasant experience.

The Supplements: Average

Listen, I know this is a small production, and the cast and crew were all relative newcomers at the time (I believe this is Rachel Sennot's first feature) but I'm certain there's something that could have been thrown together to give me what I always look for from these kinds of features: context. Though it lacks anything like outtakes or behind-the-scenes interviews, the commentary track is charming, and reasonably informative, with five of the people involved in bringing the film to fruition all sharing their perspectives and memories.

• Commentary with director Olivia Peace, writer Jess Zeidman, cinematographer Tehillah De Castro, editor Troy Lewis, and sound designer Justin Enoch
• Trailer (1:48) (HD)
• Alternative Trailer (2:30) (HD)

Final Thoughts: Worth a Look

Let's address the elephant in the room: While it IS funny that both this and Shiva Baby are films about young female Jewish queerness centered around funerals released in 2020, AND that they both feature Rachel Sennot in a prominent role, I think that their differences in subject matter, concerns and execution are more than enough to set them apart from one another.

I'm not wild about Tahara, but I fully acknowledge that it does have some truly unique points of interest. First of all, Cassie is played by Madeline Grey DeFreece, a black actress and while her race is not a direct component of the story, it is still a very unique thing to see a film with a black, queer, Jewish, female point of view character. And not for nothing, but DeFreece is very good and engaging in the role. Her performance is more than enough to justify giving this one a watch, whether you decide to own a copy or not.

The Rat-Horse Demon Ska Burger Mural (Slaughterhouse Rock)

I watched the movie Slaughterhouse Rock (1988) last night, and it's fine. It's really rambling and kind of silly; frequently unintentionally funny, etc. But. It has a lot of fun effects for the kills and whatnot, and has a really zany style.

Case in point: Early on, the main guy, Alex (Nicholas Celozzi) goes to dinner but can't focus because he's distracted by the horrible visions he's been having, and they do a riff on the effect from A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) when Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) pushes through the wall above Nancy (Heather Langenkamp)'s bed. Instead of a bedroom wall, it's the restaurant wall behind Alex.

But that homage is not the point of this post. The wall itself is:

That's the wall. I don't know exactly what kind of restaurant this is supposed to be (they get burgers), but I kind of love this weird mural! What IS that thing?

A rat?

A horse?

A rat-horse?

I guess it's some kind of demon, what with the spines down its back and the spade-tipped tail. But I also love the shaggy mullet and the underground comix-esque pants and shoes. All that, combined with the checkered everything-else is an aesthetic I absolutely love, and I would absolutely frequent a burger joint with this vibe. Wouldn't you?

THE PHANTOM (1996) - Kino Lorber

The Phantom
Kino Lorber

Original Release Date June 7th, 1996
Written by Jeffrey Boam, based on the comics by Lee Falk
Directed by Simon Wincer
Starring Billy Zane, Kristy Swanson, Treat Williams, Catherine Zeta-Jones, James Remar
Language English (subtitles available)

Buy your copy HERE from Diabolik, or HERE from Orbit

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, MovieJawn Podcast Director and Staff Writer 

The Movie: Good

For those who came in late... The Phantom is widely regarded as the first costumed comic book hero! Inspired by swashbuckling, globetrotting serial adventure stories, Lee Falk created The Phantom in 1936. Also known as The Ghost Who Walks, The Phantom defends the fictional jungle nation of Bengalla from pirates, poachers, and other ne'er-do-wells with the help of his two pistols, his peak physical conditioning, assorted assistants, both human and animal, and perhaps strongest of all: generational wealth!

In the wake of Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, Hollywood raced to find other super heroes to plaster on the big screen. Presumably, as more high-profile characters would be prohibitively expensive, the suits chose lesser-known indie characters like The Crow, The Mask, or the Rocketeer, or older ones like Dick Tracy, The Shadow, and ...The Phantom. Director Simon Wincer's film picks up with the same words I used to open this review; a call-back to the adventure serials that partially inspired the character. In a fun parallel, Superman (2025) also opens with a similar trick, designed to reproduce the feeling of picking up a story in the middle, as used to happen quite often. The difference is that Superman is a character that has consistently been in the public consciousness for decades, while The Phantom was a very obscure character in the U.S. in the mid-'90s.

Billy Zane might be the perfect casting here as The Phantom, in that he not only has leading man charisma, but a real vintage Hollywood marquee look to him. Fun fact: in a previous attempt to adapt this character, which was to be driven by Joe Dante (Gremlins, The 'Burbs), The Phantom was to be played by Bruce Campbell who has a similar classical action hero look. The rest of the cast includes Kristy Swanson as Diana, a spunky debutante adventurer working with her newspaper-owner uncle to investigate the film's villain, wealthy industrialist Xander Drax, played by a gleefully scenery-chewing Treat Willaims.

Drax's plan is to collect three mysterious artifacts: the Skulls of Touganda which, when combined, yadda yadda yadda absolute power; you get the idea. Drax is aided in his quest by mercenary Quill, played with a globe-trotting gravitas by the always great James Remar, and Sala (Catherine Zeta-Jones), the captain of an airborne all-girl gang of pilots. The flick is also almost overflowing with character actors including Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, John Capodice, and Patrick McGoohan, just to name a few.

As the film bounces from Bengalla, to New York, to a mysterious unmarked third location gathering the Skulls, and our heroes survive one dynamic action sequence after another, I fell in love with this character all over again. Zane plays The Phantom with all of his natural charm, he and Swanson banter well and Diana is an incredibly capable female co-lead. Yes, she gets captured and held captive, but then again so does The Phantom. Treat Williams is an incredible sleazebag, with a penchant for reminding you that he's the Bad Guy in the best, most creatively fatal ways. Even though such broad-strokes white hat heroics and black hat villainy can feel a little outdated, The Phantom overcomes these stylistic hurdles to make a truly entertaining adventure yarn!

The Packaging: Good

There's nothing wildly special about the packaging here. It's just very much in line with the traditionally high quality that Kino Lorber puts out. There is a slip cover and a reversible insert with two of the film's posters recreated in the correct 4K Blu-ray dimensions. One is The Phantom punching into the camera with light shining from his skull ring and the tagline SLAM EVIL! at the top, which is also the image on the sleeve. The reverse shows The Phantom sitting on the carved stone throne (did I not mention he had one of those?) inside his skull cave lair (oh, I didn't mention that either?), with a shaft of cold light illuminating the tagline, his sobriquet "The Ghost Who Walks".

It might not be anything overly elaborate, but it's a solid and handsome addition to any physical media library shelf.

The Audio + Video: Excellent

This is where Kino's release of The Phantom really takes the cake. This film looks incredible! As it happens, I had watched the DVD transfer of the film earlier in the week to prepare for an upcoming episode of my podcast, Hate Watch/Great Watch (look for episode 190 if you're so inclined), so I am perhaps uniquely qualified to tell you that this is a definite upgrade. The colors are better; deeper and smartly adjusted. For instance, in most of the film, the deep blacks of the shadows add to the comic book graphic design quality (think of something like Sin City, but not nearly as stark) while in some later sequences in caves, the color has been tweaked to where the shadows are a deep brown, which avoids these darker locations becoming too one-note or flat.

A minor downside to this video upgrade is that some of the CGI assets look worse in comparison. For example, in an opening scene (perhaps a nod to the bridge sequence from 1977's Sorcerer?), one of the cables on a rickety bridge over a steep drop snaps and the CGI dust hit as it goes looks pretty rough. On the plus side, there are actually pretty few such inclusions, and off the top of my head, the other really notable one (involving sparks added to an elevator shaft sequence) looks pretty great, as do the sparks that occur FOR SOME REASON when bullets hit trees during a police chase.

The sound has been restored to the same level of quality. I didn't notice any specific deficiencies in my initial watch of the previously-available Phantom, but in paying attention to review this disc, I found that everything was extremely clear and well-balanced. My three-channel soundbar didn't have any issues; no vibrations, no muddiness, etc., and I never had to pump up the volume in between action scenes. There's also a neat bonus feature interview with composer David Newman, where he describes how little time he had to work on it, that made me really appreciate the score in a new light.

Special Features: Good

Speaking of the bonus features: I'm not mad at them, but I wouldn't have minded more. I almost never would. What I personally really enjoy are interviews or features that give greater context. I would love, for instance, a deep dive into The Phantom's journey to the screen because there were allegedly a number of ultimately less fruitful attempts and I'd love to know more about that. But as I mentioned above, the David Newman interview was very illuminating, as was the one with Billy Zane.

• Commentary track by director Simon Wincer, moderated by filmmaker Douglas Hosdale
• Kismet in the Jungle - interview with Billy Zane (27:08)
• Slam Evil: Scoring The Phantom - interview with composer David Newman (14:49)
• Trailers
• The Phantom (1996) (1:24)
• Treasure of the Four Crowns (1983) 2:01)
• Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985) (2:18)
• Hudson Hawk (1991) (2:05)
• Mystery Men (1999) (2:24)

In Summary: Must Own

If you're at all a '90s kid at heart, OR a scholar of comic book movies, OR action films, OR you have kids who might fall into one or more of those categories, I not only recommend The Phantom as a film, but I heartily stan for this specific release which, it cannot be overstated, restores The Phantom to a visual and audio quality that it has been impossible to find for decades.

I don't mean to sound hyperbolic. It's not as though The Phantom is some lost masterpiece; it's a fun Saturday morning with a bowl of cereal movie that's been consistently available since it made the jump from VHS to DVD. BUT. That DVD-era version is muddy, dull, and thoroughly underwhelming, which does the movie a sincere disservice. I'm glad to see The Phantom making the leap to an upgraded format, and hopefully finding a new audience because of it. This Kino Lorber release really Slams the Evil of underwhelming physical media presentation, so why not add it to your library?

Fantasia International Film Festival 2026 - Preview

FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2026
The Renowned Festival Turns 30!

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, Staff Writer and Podcast Director

2026 has already been a great year in film, which I say with the caveats that A) it's barely half over, B) I haven't seen all of the films released in the first half, and C) the Fantasia International Film Festival hasn't even happened yet. Fantasia is a highly anticipated festival each year, for me (and others, don't get it twisted) because of its focus: smaller, largely independent films and shorts, with a focus on offerings from Asian countries. This appeals to me personally because, odds are, if an indie film that I might like is released in the U.S., it's more than likely I'll end up hearing about it. But international films have that extra barrier of distance to overcome.

For the past handful of years, since I've been covering Fantasia, the festival has routinely exposed me to some of my favorite films of each year. Films coming from creators with different influences, different styles of storytelling and different goals. Expanding your horizons is healthy, and I think everyone should try to do it as often as possible. The festival runs from July 16th - August 2nd, and features a number of exclusive screenings and events for anyone interested in attending in person. 

To that end, below are a handful of films screening at the 2026 Fantasia International Film Festival that I'm very excited to check out. These are the titles that jumped out at me immediately, either because I'm familiar with some other project(s) from the folks involved, or in some cases, the concept hooked me, but as with every year I look forward to discovering new filmmakers and new ideas at this year's fest!

Get tickets HERE

YOU ARE THE FILM
Directed by Makoto Ueda
Written by Makoto Ueda
North American Premiere
Acquire tickets HERE

Madoka (Marika Ito) and Kazuma (Kai Inowaki) are young people separated by about three kilometers (or a 45 minute walk), who seem to be able to communicate with each other through the movies playing in their respective local cinemas. As the title implies, they are each other’s movies! I'm guessing, given writer / director Makoto Ueda's previous work, that this is a romance with some unique twists I won't even see coming. I know Ueda from his screenplays for films like Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2020), and River (2023) which each involve unique, small-scale approaches to familiar time-loop concepts. If You Are the Film, which is his directorial debut, is anywhere near as sweet and creative as those films, I'll be very, very happy.

LOS VAMPIRES
Directed by Craig Mitchell
Written by Craig Mitchell
World Premiere
Acquire tickets HERE

Famously, while director Tod Browning filmed the 1931 Dracula by day, director George Melford filmed the Spanish-language version on the same sets by night. This is true, look it up. What writer / director Craig Mitchell's Los Vampires does is take a fictionalized spin on this arrangement and add in a rivalry between the two stars (Henry Ian Cusick and Thomas Kretschmann, respectively) and a series of murders happening around the set. As with the TV show Dragnet, “...the names have been changed to protect the innocent”. This story set-up really appeals to me, not just because I love vampire films, but because the whole fictionalized events on the set of a formative vampire film gimmick reminds me of the 2000 film Shadow of the Vampire (check it out if you haven't!).

THE GLORIOUS DEAD
Directed by John Adams, Toby Poser
Written by John Adams, Toby Poser
World Premiere
Acquire tickets HERE

I was already a definite fan of the Adams family (with one 'd'; the family who've brought us the films Hellbender (2021), Where the Devil Roams (2023), and Mother of Flies (2025) among others) but after they personally reached out to say they'd read a review I'd written, I'm ride-or-die. Turns out they're as gracious and down-to-Earth as you'd hope. Their latest, The Glorious Dead, finds Toby Poser and Zelda Adams playing a small town sheriff and her deputy who wake up to find out everything is wrong. According to the description "...blood drips from faucets, people and pets are missing, and fleshy creatures walk the woods". Whatever is behind the events of the plot, I trust the steady hands of the Adamses to deliver a good time.

NO REST FOR THE WICKED
Directed by Kasper Kalle
Written by Rasmus Birch, Kasper Kalle, Karl Heinreich Ulrichs (short story)
World Premiere
Acquire tickets HERE

A fisherman and a stranded whaler begin a secret, queer love affair in this Danish vampire flick that's being described as "haunting" and compared to the work of Robert Eggers (director of The Lighthouse (2019), and Nosferatu (2024) among others). Based on the 1884 (!) story "Manor" by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, what little I could find about this flick (which unfortunately shares a title with an SEO-dominating video game franchise) looks splendidly dark and sensual.

RUBBERHEAD: THE LIFE & MONSTERS OF STEVE JOHNSON
Directed by Nick Taylor
Written by Joseph Krings, Nick Taylor
World Premiere
Acquire tickets HERE

I love the increasingly lost art of practical effects just a hair more than I appreciate the innovations of digital, and while I didn't recognize the name Steve Johnson right off the bat, a cursory glance at his credits shows that I certainly should. With titles ranging from popular blockbusters like Spider-Man 2 (2004), to genre classics like Big Trouble in Little China (1986), to cult faves like Brainscan (1994), to series like The Tick (2001-2002), and music videos from Primus and Slipknot; the man has had some hand in such a great many entertainments that I've personally enjoyed! I'm very excited to hear his story told by many of the folks he's worked with as well as the man himself!

Honorable mention titles that nearly made it into this write-up include Colony (dir. Yeon Sang-ho), the bio-hacking zombie outbreak flick from the director of Train to Busan (2016); Kung Fu (dir. Giddens Ko), Taiwan's first martial arts fantasy film in 40 years; AnyMart (dir. Yusuke Iwasaki), a gory satire set in a convenience store in a corporate dystopia; and Dance Freak (dirs. Alan Resnick and Robby Reckleff), a dance-virus take on an outbreak film from creators known for their genre-hopping short films like Unedited Footage of a Bear (2014) or This House Has People in It (2016). 

Those are just the titles I felt like I had enough of a handle on that I could attempt to explain them. There are so many other films where I won't truly know what I'm watching until the credits roll (and sometimes not even then). If none of them sound like your thing, it's most definitely worth taking a look at what else is on offer this year. The Fantasia International Film Festival is truly a smorgasbord of cinematic treats. Look around, you're sure to find something delicious.

THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING WINDOWS (1976) - Arrow Video

The House with Laughing Windows
Arrow Video 

Original Release Date August 20th, 1976 (Italy)
Written by Pupi Avati, Antonio Avati, Gianni Cavina, Maurizio Costanzo
Directed by Pupi Avati
Starring Lino Capolicchio, Francesca Marciano, Gianni Cavina,
Language Italian (English subtitles available)

Purchase your copy from MVD HERE

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, MovieJawn Podcast Director and Staff Writer 

The Movie: Good

The House with Laughing Windows doesn't have the grandest legacy, by which I mean it isn't a title that gets tossed around a lot in casual horror conversations, even when discussing the Giallo sub genre, but it certainly could be. Beyond just being very well made, the more unique aspects of The House with Laughing Windows tick many of the typical Giallo film boxes and predate twists in some very popular, more mainstream horror titles. And to be clear: I can't even discuss all of them here because that would rob you of experiencing their revelations yourself.

Art restorer Stefano (Lino Capolicchio) comes to a small Italian village to restore a recently unearthed fresco in the village church. Coincidentally, he will be staying at a house that the artist, Legnani, who is long dead, had once shared with his two sisters. As the restoration goes on, Stefano begins a romance with demure school teacher Francesca (Francesca Marciano) and simultaneously becomes more aware of the local legends and superstitions surrounding Legnani.

There is a sinister feeling that permeates The House with Laughing Windows that few films can maintain for a full run time. As the restoration of the fresco, which depicts the martyrdom of St. Sebastian, continues, the feeling that you shouldn't see what's really under there grows in synch with a series of unsettling events happening around Stefano. You're given ample time to wonder if the rumors the villagers repeat are true, and perhaps how far they're willing to go to keep this history buried.

The Audio + Video: Good

This movie looks fantastic while still preserving what I feel is a key component of The House with Laughing Windows: there is a certain faded quality to it. Much like the fresco that sets the whole ball rolling, that patina of mild decay seems to fall over the entire film. The house that Stefano stays in is filled with once beautiful paintings and murals that have all degenerated since the halcyon days of their prime. The film's restoration reflects that: the colors are deep here and there, when it's appropriate. A yellow glass bottle, vibrant green trees on the edge of the property, etc. but there is an overcast, washed out, dull cast to most of the film. Those occasional moments of bright color only call this into greater contrast, drawing your attention to the casual shabbiness of the town which adds to the film's overall feeling of unease.

The sound mix in Giallo films always feels heightened to me: everything is just a little too sharp, too harsh. Whether its footsteps in a mostly empty house, the wind through the vegetation, or a scream, I find that Giallo films routinely sound like they're just tipping into the red. The overall effect is to further keep you tense and on edge.

The score on the other hand, is handled very well, with a perfect mix that doesn't ever overwhelm or compete with any of the important dialogue. I have a three-channel soundbar and my biggest sticking point with a film's mix is whether I have to ride the volume button the whole time. The House with Laughing Windows avoids this expertly. While certain sound effects were loud enough to demand attention, I could always hear everyone clearly (obviously, the English subtitles help with my clarity, but still) and the score would come and go, building to its various emotional crescendos.

One piece of Amedeo Tommasi's score, Tema D'amore No. 2 (Love Theme 2) is actually really beautiful and haunting, with sustained piano chords under a delicate melody filled with longing. While all the compositions in the film work, this one is my favorite. It's a true "they understood the assignment" moment.

Special Features: Excellent

When it comes to special features, what I'm always looking for is a greater understanding of the context in which the film was made. I'm happy to say that this Arrow release really delivers in that regard. The included, feature-length (!) documentary about the making of the film, Painted Screams (2025), is a treasure trove! With interviews ranging from stars Lino Capolicchio and Francesca Marciano, to director Pupi Avati, the doc gives insight into not just the making of the film, but into where the ideas came from, to recollections from life on-set, like going to the local pharmacy forgetting you're covered in fake blood!

Beyond that, the two video essays La Casa e Sola and The Art of Suffering, both of which were produced for this release, give really elucidating insight into aspects of the film I wasn't consciously thinking of. In La Casa e Sola (The House Stands Alone), critic Chris Alexander draws particular attention to The House with Laughing Windows' somewhat grisly opening credits and contrasts them with the subtle implication of violence in the credits to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), which were designed by the amazing Saul Bass (that's neither here not there, I just love the guy). In The Art of Suffering, critic Kat Ellinger focuses on the push-pull of themes in the film between, as she says "Apollonian Rationality and Pagan Chaos", as well as drawing comparisons with Clive Barker's Hellbound Heart and the writings of M.R. James.

Since I had seen this picture before, I watched all of the bonus content before diving back in for a rewatch, and I was not disappointed. Armed with numerous new facets to pay special attention to, I really enjoyed my second visit to The House with Laughing Windows.

• Commentary by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson
• Commentary by Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth
• Painted Screams (1:34:31)
• La Casa e Sola (19:13)
• The Art of Suffering (14:59)
• Theatrical Trailer (3:40)

In Summary: Must Own

The thing about horror as a genre is that, even though it at times has been seen as lesser-than by mainstream studios, audiences and critics, it's always been relatively easy to make. Not everything, mind you, but it's never been prohibitively expensive to gather some teens / twenty-somethings and put someone in a spooky mask, holding a kitchen knife. This means that, even before its most recent reappraisal and popularity boom, horror has been a crowded field and it's all too easy for films of even high quality to slip by without much notice,

To that end, I recommend anyone with any love for horror, but ESPECIALLY if you're into Giallo, should pick up Arrow's release. Even for a student of the game, there are moves in this film that really left me pleasantly surprised. Plus, I'm a sucker for the folk horror sub genre, which this most definitely flirts with (multiple people in the bonus features make comparisons to The Wicker Man (1973) and with good reason) and films built around pieces of ancient art with a terrible secret. The House with Laughing Windows is all these things, while also splashing around in the tawdry sexual shocks of Giallo, and delivering a constant simmering tension that's just unbeatable.

THAT ALIEN, SOUND (2025)

That Alien, Sound
Directed by Brando Topp
Written by Brando Topp
Starring Mia Danelle, Will Tranfo, Deyo Forteza, Amy Hill, Richard Masur
Running time 1 hour and 37 minutes
Streaming now

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, Staff Writer and Podcast Director

When I first saw That Alien, Sound, back in 2024, I came away from my viewing quietly reeling. The film, from writer / director Brando Topp, takes the basic premise of John Carpenter's 1984 sci-fi drama Starman (written by Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon) and turns the knobs a little bit. Adjusting the settings to make it, if not more relevant to today's concerns than Starman, at least more focused. I'm not saying anything negative about Starman, mind you, I gave it a solid four stars on Letterboxd, but the Carpenter film is unsurprisingly a little paranoid while Topp's film is all about acceptance. Both are bittersweet.

When Micah (Mia Danelle) collapses in the record store she works at, screaming and clutching at the headphones she's wearing, her coworker / boyfriend Shannon (Will Tranfo) rushes to her aid and sets a precedent for the film that just kept pleasantly surprising me: no matter how crazy what Micah is saying might seem, everyone pretty much rolls with it. As we'll learn, Micah isn't really Micah anymore, she's a sentience; a once formless intelligence from deep space that accidentally hitches a ride on the song Micah was listening to--"Disco" by Death Valley Girls--into Micah's body. She didn't mean to, she didn't even seem to know that was possible, but it happened. And now she's learning what it means to be, not just physical, but human. Most of you reading this right now are likewise human, so you at least have a vague idea of what she's in for.

The former Micah, now going by the name Sound, meets Micah's family, spends time with various groups of assorted friends, and eventually forms something like a plan: perhaps, if they can broadcast a Death Valley Girls performance into space, it will act as a beacon to Micah's consciousness and she can return to her body, and Sound can return to the void. Sound is a gentle soul who seems very aware that piloting someone's body without their consent has consequences, but the story doesn't need to externalize them. There's no tangible penalty if, for instance, Sound were to smoke a cigarette with Micah's brother Deyo (Deyo Forteza), except that Sound would know it was a selfish thing to do, so she doesn't. 

Mia Danelle is phenomenal. I didn't reference Starman at the top of this article by accident. Jeff Bridges' performance in that film is very highly regarded. His take on an alien being learning to exist in a human world is different, and slightly more physical, while Danelle's is mostly experiential. You're constantly asked to believe that this person is realizing what a sense of smell is, or that she can shrug (which is apparently pretty cool), and you do. 

Evan as That Alien, Sound builds a case that Sound's story might not be true and that, as many of the people close to her posit, this is just Micah's way of dealing with feeling overwhelmed, we see person after person playing along, whether they believe it or not, despite having very little to gain. That is what stayed with me most after watching: the kindness. Whether her story is true or not, whether Sound is the most extraordinary person you've ever met or just a girl having a hard time, where is the harm in having a little empathy? 

You never know what someone is going through until you walk a mile in their shoes, or their body. It may be a cliché, but it's one that too few people take to heart. That Alien, Sound makes the case that we could all stand to be a little softer with one another, a little more understanding, and it makes it with heart and good humor. There is no admonishment in this film, no straw man bad guys or tenacious government agents hunting Sound. There's just some kids treating each other kindly and making it look easy to do. This is a film that leads by example, and I'm profoundly glad it exists.

SATAN WANTS YOU (2023) - ETR Media

Satan Wants You
ETR Media

Original Release Date Mar. 11th, 2023
Written by Sean Horlor, Steve J. Adams
Directed by Steve J. Adams, Sean Horlor
Starring Sarah Marshall, Charyl Proby-Austman, Marilyn, Charles Ennis, Kenneth V. Lanning
Language English (subtitles available)

Get your copy HERE from Diabolik, or HERE from Orbit

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, MovieJawn Podcast Director and Staff Writer 

Overview:

Satan Wants You comes to Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome partner label ETR Media. An eye-opening doc that examines the events leading to a wave of fear mongering that gripped North America, the film is well-crafted. ETR's release of Satan Wants You looks and sounds respectable but lacks for bonus features.

The Movie Itself: 4 stars

"Satanic Panic" is the term given to the media blitz that swept the nation in the '80s. If daytime TV and even the nightly news were to be believed, Satan hid in every dark corner just waiting to make good, god-fearing people sacrifice animals, torture children, and eat babies. Or listen to Black Sabbath. Or play Dungeons and Dragons.

My familiarity with the Satanic Panic is through the McMartin Preschool case where multiple children alleged that they were, daily, being kidnapped, tortured, and forced to commit untold atrocities. But if you looked at the details, there was NO WAY it was true. Kids claimed they were transported in a hot air balloon, or flushed down special pipes in the toilet, and these claims were never interrogated, lest the entire witch hunt-scented house of cards come tumbling down. I also knew there was a book involved, but for whatever reason, I thought the McMartin case came before it.

Satan Wants You clears up this timeline, and then some. Directors Steve J. Adams and Sean Horlor dive deeply into the creation of Michelle Remembers, the book co-written by psychiatrist Larry Pazder and its subject, his patient, Michelle Smith who through multiple sessions guided by Pazder, recalled a 14-month long stint in the hands of a Satanic cult. The sensational story, which included the aforementioned animal sacrifices, child torture, and infant cannibalism, obviously caught everyone's attention, generated headlines, and led to Pazder and Smith becoming all but household names. Michelle even appeared on the game show To Tell the Truth!

But beyond just reciting a series of events, the documentary examines Pazder's time in Nigeria where he witnessed what he believed were Satanic religious rites, his reaction to the 1976 made for television film Sybil--where Sally Field plays the titular woman who suffers from what would now be recognized as dissociative identity disorder--and the details of his relationship to Michelle (both of whom were married when he took her on as a patient in the late '70s, but ended up marrying each other by '87). Satan Wants You also examines the fallout from the fervor around this book, both short-term like the McMartin case, or longer-term, like Pizzagate. The parallels there, once you see them, are very upsetting. 

The Packaging: 3 stars

The packaging here is solid, but nothing to write home about. It comes in a nice, sturdy, clear plastic Blu-ray case with a booklet featuring an essay from "cultural archaeologist" Heather Drain, with a reversible cover. One side features an illustration of a book laying on a map of North America. Its cover is an image of Michelle Smith, there is a forked tongue snaking out between some of the pages, and it is on fire. The reverse side leans into 'Satanic' visual clichés with a bleeding title and pentagram on what appears to be aged parchment.

My only complaint here is the font chosen for the essay booklet, a Gothic-style font (I'm not a really a font guy, so forgive me if that's not exactly right) presumably chosen to further lean into those same "Satanic" clichés, is actually kind of a pain to read. I will say that this is nearly counter-balanced by the cleverness of one of the film's taglines "She was chosen... as the Devil's bride.", the double entendre of which becomes clear as you watch. 

The Video: 3.5

What you have to understand is that Satan Wants You features quite a bit of, let's say, archival footage of television interviews, that gameshow appearance, news clips, and the like, much of which has some visual degradation. I initially wondered how much of that might have been the result of post-production; the chasing of a general aesthetic. But as things went on I came to believe it's probably legit, and that the quality is the result of these clips being transferred from old VHS tapes.

None of it is wholly egregious, just the kind of tracking distortion or general static that you'd get with an old tape. The rest of the footage, as in everything shot for this documentary, looks great. The majority is talking heads, but there are some reenactments and almost ...interstitials designed to evoke certain emotional responses. It's all very solid, but nothing super remarkable.

The Audio: 3.5

Satan Wants You features actually quite a bit of the audio taken from the tapes Larry Pazder recorded during his sessions with Michelle Smith, as well as some other, related vintage audio, and they vary in audio fidelity. To shore up the clarity issue, subtitles are present on screen, but sonically, they can get pretty loud, and kind of grating at times. It never had me reaching for the volume knob, but that was only for their brevity; if they'd gone on longer, I would have definitely needed to turn things down.

Other than that, and the slight audio issues with the vintage television footage, which are even more slight than the visual issues I mentioned above, everything here sounded great. I have a three-channel sound bar and, like I said, I only almost needed to adjust the volume.

Special attention should be paid to the score, from Mark Dolmont, which is present throughout (as much as I noticed) but never competes with or overwhelms the conversation. This should be a no-brainer for a genre that is generally speaking, mostly dialogue, but I have seen documentaries that don't pull it off.

The Supplements: 1 star

Aside from the trailer, there are no bonus features. The booklet mentioned above is the only thing we get that even approaches context or any outside examination of the film or its subject beyond Satan Wants You itself. The essay in the booklet is very good, but when combined with the difficult to read font, makes this nearly a wash. I do appreciate the effort that went into this release, but there's just so much ground to cover with this topic that it feels like a major misstep not to include any supplemental materials.

• Trailer (1:49)

Final Thoughts: Recommended

Satan Wants You effectively transports you to an era where Satanists lurked around every corner and were capable of regularly doing elaborate and despicable crimes. But, beyond the obvious parade of bummers that this story is, and what it says about human nature and specifically the psyche of North Americans, the doc has a lot of humor. The interviews feel honest, leading to some hilarious comments like when podcaster Sarah Marshall says of Michelle Remembers: "This book contains an extraordinary number of dead babies."

Similarly, the degree to which the media assimilated the story is itself (darkly) humorous. Obviously, Larry and Michelle appearing on lowbrow tabloid TV like Oprah or Geraldo makes sense, but watching clips from To Tell the Truth (a game show where panelists could question three guests who each claimed to be the subject of the life story read aloud by the host) feels incredibly surreal and disorienting. But, in a good way?

I think this is a documentary worth seeing, and only might be worth having an at-hand copy of but for some, this would be a one-and-done viewing experience (that I would still hope leads to further investigation). After all, as many people have paraphrased before me: Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it. But the essay font issue and lack of supplemental material is a pretty big sticking point for me, personally.

MUTANT (1984) - Vinegar Syndrome

Mutant
Vinegar Syndrome

Original Release Date Aug. 24th, 1984
Written by Michael Jones & John C. Kruize (story), & Peter Z. Orton (screenplay)
Directed by John 'Bud' Cardos, Mark Rosman (original director)
Starring Wings Hauser, Lee Montgomery, Bo Hopkins, Jody Medford, Jennifer Warren
Language English (English subs available)

Get your copy HERE from Diabolik, or HERE from Orbit

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, MovieJawn Podcast Director and Staff Writer 

Overview:

Mutant comes to Blu-ray and 4K from Vinegar Syndrome. Directed by industry veteran and jack-of-all-trades John 'Bud' Cardos, who was brought in to replace the original director, the film is an enjoyably creepy experience. Vinegar Syndrome's release of Mutant features a respectable video transfer and audio package with a solid assortment of bonus features.

The Movie Itself: 4 stars

Mutant (also known as Night Shadows, The Pestilence, Things in the Night, or Toxic Waste) (yes, really) most likely will not blow your socks off, but it's a very competent small town horror thriller. When brothers Josh (Wings Hauser) and Mike (Lee Montgomery) run afoul of some rednecks on the highway, their car ends up in a ditch and they end up stuck overnight in a fairly inhospitable small town. But the violent locals aren't their biggest problem.

Beset with production difficulties that led to original director Mark Rosman being replaced by John 'Bud' Cardos, Mutant plays the long game with the audience, teasing something unknown and horrible and a possible conspiracy to hide it from prying eyes before ultimately revealing a more familiar style of antagonist fiends. Allegedly, the "monsters" were originally intended to be something else, but budgetary concerns and limited time were the real conspiracy, I guess.

BUT. The final product is still enjoyable. With plot elements that feel straight out of a Resident Evil game--including characters listening to the final audio log of a doctor (Jennifer Warren) while examining the site where they were murdered by monsters--and a charismatic lead performance from the great Wings Hauser, as well as a colorful cast of supporting locals, Mutant is perfect late night, popcorn-and-a-beer movie.

The Packaging: 3.5

The film comes in a standard, handsome black 4K Blu-ray case with a reversible cover. One side features an appropriately drive-in style cover with a baseball bat wielding Josh protecting bartender / schoolteacher Holly (Jody Medford) from threatening outstretched hands, flanked by other characters from the film and above an image of a burning car on town's main street. The reverse side features a more vague (and honestly, misleading) image of many large, amorphous, vaguely biological shapes filling the sky above a small town on the horizon. This image, which would make more sense for a movie like Phantoms (1998), sits above the tagline "Mankind's deadliest threat will not come from the skies."

The Video: 4 stars

Something that happens fairly frequently with these restorations is that lower light sequences will end up having a bit more digital visual noise in them; a byproduct of balancing the contrast (is my understanding). Since the majority of Mutant is set at night and/or in various interiors, the light levels are somewhat inconsistent, meaning there's kind of a lot of this grain. So if you're someone who will not settle for anything but the most pristine, crystal clear presentations, you'll want to skip this one.

Now, I will say, at no point was any of this grain ever a distraction. For the most part, it just became akin to the usual film grain and added that certain something that modern digital clarity lacks. For me, some grain, some noise is a bonus. It's akin to production value, especially when it fits the vibe of the film. For a desperate, paranoid, trapped-in-a-small town monster movie thriller like Mutant, it fits like a glove.

The Audio: 4 stars

I had no issues with the sound mix here. My personal metrics are: whether or not I have to ride the volume buttons on my remote and whether or not, when things get their loudest, the mix makes my three-channel soundbar vibrate. Neither of these particular beasts reared their ugly heads on this one. There are one, maybe two scenes in locations that are slightly more echoey, but these sequences don't have a ton of important dialogue, so audio clarity and whether or not I could understand what was being said is kind of a moot point.

What I really loved was the score, by veteran composer Richard Band (brother of fellow genre legend Charles Band, and composer for many of their projects) which features a lot of simple motifs and some beautifully sustained strings. It was nothing mind-blowing, but as usual with Richard Band, it was surprisingly engaging and vivid.

The Supplements: 4 stars

What I want most out of supplemental materials is context, especially when I learn that the production on a film was somewhat troubled. Luckily this release offers a lot of it. Between the two commentary tracks, two archival interviews, and the new interviews, I feel like I have a very good idea of what the experience of making Mutant was like, and as a bonus, it seems largely very positive. Oftentimes, a change of director is indicative of some great strife, but here it seems like a mutual parting of ways.

• Archival commentary track with director John 'Bud' Cardos, producer Igo Kantor, and actor Lee Montgomery
• New commentary track with film historians Howard S. Berger, and Steve Mitchell
• A Real Country Boy - an interview with Cali Lili Hauser, widow of Wings Hauser  (17:10) (HD)
• Mutant Report - Anthony Everitt reflects on his father's coverage of the film (7:23) (SD)
• Archival Interview with Bo Hopkins (10:59) (SD)
• Archival Interview with Lee Montgomery (15:42) (SD)
• Trailer (1:30)

Final Thoughts: Highly Recommended

I don't think Mutant is a must watch, but for genre fans, it's a neat little treat. Wings Hauser, Lee Montgomery, and Jody Medford are all fun to watch, even though Montgomery is missing for much of the run time, and Medford doesn't arrive until nearly halfway through, I believe. But hands down, my favorite character and performance was Bo Hopkins as the Sheriff, who goes through an entire arc, largely in the background of his scenes. He begins as a surly obstacle with a drinking problem before the events of the film begin to set him straight and he ends up a hero.

All-in-all I recommend most people check this film out if you get the chance. It's probably worth a watch if only to see Wings Hauser leap across a pool table in the middle of a bar fight! But I imagine only true blue midnight movie fans will be making space for Mutant on their shelf.

THE KEY (1983) - Cult Epics

The Key (La Chaive)
Cult Epics

Original Release Date Oct. 19th, 1983 (Italy)
Written by Tinto Brass, based on the novel Kagi by Jun'ichirô Tanizaki
Directed by Tinto Brass
Starring Frank Finlay, Stefania Sandrelli, Franco Branciaroli, Barbara Cupisti
Language English

Get your copy HERE from Diabolik, or HERE from Orbit

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, MovieJawn Podcast Director and Staff Writer 

The Movie: Good

Tinto Brass is perhaps most well-known for the film Caligula (1979), an erotic depiction of the late Roman emperor's reign starring Malcolm McDowell, Peter O'Toole, and Helen Mirren which had a messy post production, was received generally negatively but has become something of a cult classic. The Key, while nowhere near as ambitious or expensive, is widely regarded as Brass' masterpiece and, whether you agree with that assessment or not, is certainly more cohesive a vision.

I can't really begin to talk about this film without first addressing the elephant in the room: this is an erotic film. It exists to titillate and arouse, and it does so directly. The sex and sexual situations depicted are the point; The Key is about the sex. Just as folks may not enjoy horror movies, or documentaries, erotica is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. I believe, whether or not the genre is your thing, you can still discuss the artistic merits of a piece.

To that end, The Key is actually very impressive. Well-shot, fairly well-acted, with gorgeous locales and mostly very beautiful people, The Key is also a shockingly solid character piece. Art professor Nino Rolfe (Frank Finlay) is frustrated in his wife Teresa (Stefania Sandrelli)'s lack of libido and sexual creativity. To that end, he manufactures a scenario to unleash her sexual id: he leaves a key somewhere she is certain to find it, knowing she'll be too curious to refuse finding what it unlocks, which is a drawer in his desk containing a journal in which he has been writing about his sexual frustrations and fantasies.

Things spiral from there. At a dinner with their daughter Lisa (Barbara Cupisti) and her fiancé Laszlo (Franco Branciaroli), Teresa initially seems to be playing along and flirting with Laszlo to excite and tease Nino, before she ends up fainting which requires an injection into her buttock, delivered by Laszlo. This begins a back-and-forth between Nino and Teresa where each tries to call the others' bluff before Teresa stops caring and just has a full-on affair with Laszlo.

Stefania Sandrelli had been a celebrity since she was a teenager and, at 37 years old, she viewed taking such a literally and emotionally naked role as the potential start of a new stage in her career. As Teresa, she's wonderful and exudes sensuality. Her sexual awakening is presented as the story's main focus, with Nino quickly sliding down a moral scale from playfully cheeky husband to jealous monster. He also, it should be noted, has nonconsensual sex with his wife after she passes out, which the film's score (by legendary composer Ennio Morricone!) depicts as oafish via oompah-oompah music as opposed to a reprehensible act.

Which brings me to a point I frequently reach in most viewings of erotic films: the prevalence of depictions of sexual assault. These films, no matter the level of "core", are about depicting fantasies for the audience, and noncon scenarios are plenty of people's jam. So basically, I don't have to like it, but I do have to accept its existence, and that acceptance doesn't stop me from thinking prof. Nino is a garbage human being. I was happy to watch as he slowly ruins his marriage and ultimately gets his just desserts.

The Packaging: Excellent

Cult Epics' physical releases, just in general, are very handsome and of good quality. The Key comes with a slipcover featuring Teresa lying in bed wearing black lingerie, with a mirror on the wall behind her reflecting an image from a different, more naked scene. The case inside is of the black 4K variety and has a double-sided cover.

One side features a vintage poster, with the Italian title La Chaive, of Teresa sitting on a dune wearing a mature blazer, shirt and skirt combination, but flashing her stocking garters. The reverse side is another image from the same sequence as the slipcover image, with Teresa this time sitting up in bed. There is also an included booklet with a wonderfully thorough essay about Tinto Brass and Stefania Sandrelli's careers, written by Eugenio Ercolani.

All in all this is the sort of release you could comfortably display on a shelf without worrying anyone would think The Key was pornography (if that's a concern of yours).

The Audio + Video: Excellent

This looks wonderful. The colors are lush throughout and the light balance is excellently handled. or example, there is a sequence where Nino takes nude photos of Teresa and then has Laszlo develop them as part of the whole psychosexual game, but I mention it because: when Nino is taking the photos, he pulls out a powerfully bright studio light and still, even in the dark bedroom, nothing is washed out OR swallowed by darkness. It's wonderfully well-managed. 

There is more visual noise in darker scenes, but not to a great or distracting degree. This phenomenon is a byproduct of balancing / restoring sequences initially shot in lower light, and typically presents as just a higher rate of film grain. I mention it here only to assure you that this is normal and to be expected.

I loved the look of The Key throughout, from the deep, jewel box colors of the clothing, the amber lighting on some scenes, and the inky black shadows. There's even a sequence with light streaming through the windows highlighted with some atmospheric smoke like a damn Steven Spielberg movie! When combined with the beauty of the locations and architecture, it's absolutely a gorgeous film.

I had slightly more of an issue with the audio, but truly only minor complaints. Firstly there is a scene in a barber's where the volume suddenly jumps exponentially, which is an unpleasant surprise, but only happens in that one brief scene. The more prevalent issue is that there are moments where the audio is slightly muffled, but never to a degree that you can't understand what's being said. It's almost bound to happen with a film with so much ADR. Automatic Dialogue Replacement is when something is recorded later, either to replace imperfect on-set recording, add lines of dialogue that were not initially recorded, or in this case to dub the various actors (many of whom were not native English speakers).

Special Features: Excellent

I would like to see this section grow in terms of your opinions. I do think it’s still important to list all of the special features that are available, but I would like you all to check them out and highlight one or two that really stood out to you. 

What I look for in a selection of bonus material is context. Unless I'm already familiar, I like to get an idea of the what and why of a movie's creation, and this release is a treasure trove of context. Aside from the booklet with the essay from Eugenio Ercolani mentioned above, there is a feature length commentary featuring Ercolani and Marcus Stiglegger, numerous interviews both new and archival, and trailers for other films from Tinto Brass.

Perhaps my favorite is the Score by Ennio Morricone bonus feature. Yes, legendary composed Morricone scores the film, which I barely mentioned above because I wanted to highlight that this bonus feature allows you to play the entire score over a still photo from the film! It played in the background as I was outlining this review, in fact!

The only bonus feature I didn't really enjoy is Outtakes Venice, which is just extra footage of the water which, while nice to look at and technically correct, is decidedly not what I think of when I see the word ' outtakes '.

• Feature commentary from Eugenio Ercolani & Marcus Stiglegger
• Tinto's Talisman - interview with actor Franco Branciaroli (38:55)
• Keyhole Venice (7:35)
• Sensuous Morricone (28:29)
• Score by Ennio Morricone (32:06)
• Archival Interview with Tinto Brass (16:52)
• Outtakes Venice (10:15)
• The Key poster gallery
• Tinto Brass poster gallery
• Tinto Brass trailers:
• The Key (1983) (3:08)
• Cheeky! (2000) (3:25)
• Frivolous Lola (1998) (2:18)
• All Ladies Do It (1992) (3:22)

In Summary: Buy It On Sale

I quite liked The Key overall. It's has more to it than its just erotic content, it's genuinely funny and strange at times (the dream / fantasy sequences!) and just has a lovely overall presentation. I know erotic films without much more to their plot--meaning not erotic thrillers or somesuch--aren't everybody's bag, but if you're in the market for something like that, and with the added morality tale ending tacked on, I can't recommend this release strongly enough.

There is, I should mention, in addition to the maybe distasteful assault stuff, an odd through-line of fascism to the film. Now, to be clear: neither the film itself nor any of the characters seem to support fascism. The film is set in 1939 and opens at a New Year's celebration held by the Italian Association of Fascist Hoteliers. It ends with a funeral shown underneath an address from Mussolini announcing Italy entering into WWII. In addition, Nino has a side hustle authenticating art forgeries to allow folks struggling under fascism to make some money. I just ...am not sure how this informs the film itself.

I suppose the societal repression and the personal repression is a parallel, but it seems like a relatively half-constructed one. Certainly, fascism represents a major epoch in Italy's history but beyond that I just feel like I'm missing something. This film is based on a novel, Kagi by Jun'ichirô Tanizaki, so perhaps it's some thematic holdover from that? I don't think its inclusion really dampened my enjoyment any, I just couldn't end this write-up without mention it.

BODY PUZZLE (1992) - Kino Lorber

Body Puzzle
Kino Lorber / Kino Raro

Original Release Date: March 20th, 1992 (Italy)
Written by Lamberto Bava, Teodoro Corrà, Bruce Martin, Domenico Paolella
Directed by Lamberto Bava
Starring Joanna Pacula, Tomas Arana, François Montagut
Language English (English and Italian subtitles available)

Get your copy HERE from Kino Lorber, or HERE from Diabolik

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, MovieJawn Podcast Director and Staff Writer 

The Movie: Average

I enjoy the Giallo genre quite a bit. I'm no expert, just a fan, but the emphasis on style always appealed to me. The clothes, the kills, the locations, the direction, and the motivations were all usually equally unique and stylish; at least in the best examples. But Giallo peaked around the late '60s / early '70s and though there are viable examples across the 1980s, perhaps by 1992, it would be unfair to look at Body Puzzle through that lens. But it feels right, so I'm gonna.

Body Puzzle is, super appropriately, a puzzle of a film. It begins with a scene of a man (François Montagut) playing the piano before flashing back to a motorcycle accident. Through the language of film, we believe we are being told who this person is and why they do what they do: murders. But are we? As the film rolls on and we see the man committing numerous murders, taking grisly trophies with which to taunt a beautiful young woman (Joanna Pacula), we believe we understand why. Even if we don't have all the details, we seem to understand the shape of events. The film is then playing catch-up to what we have seen, as Det. Mike (Tomas Arana) comes to Tracy Grant (Pacula)'s aid and begins trying to put together the pieces of this particular puzzle.

As a film, Body Puzzle feels caught between two genres. It loses many of the Giallo trademarks I listed above, but doesn't replace them with anything. The only truly interesting location is Tracy's apartment which has huge blue glass pyramids on the walls composed of smaller, triangular panels, and a swimming pool flanked by black and white pinstriped pillars. The one moment that feels like the kind of cheap, nasty thrills you'd expect from a Giallo film is one kill in a public bathroom stall where the camera is briefly looking up, out of the toilet as the killer descends upon his victim. For a film where a guy is going around collecting disparate body parts, there's hardly even much blood.

I didn't have a bad time with Body Puzzle necessarily, in fact the ending pretty much saves the whole experience with just how bonkers it is, but the journey to get there is at times tedious. It also has a lot of fun small moments like a mortician (Sebastiano Lo Monaco) eating sliced apples immediately after performing an autopsy, a w-i-l-d scene in a classroom for blind children, and the revelation that the killer has been eating an un-sliced personal pizza from the edges inward, the way a rat would. Whether these sound like enough to tip this into Must Watch territory is entirely up to you.

The Packaging: Average

This is a pretty barebones release, all things considered. You've got your standard Blu-ray case, nothing wrong with that, and a pretty cool cover featuring Joanna Pacula's face divided into several slices in the process of being either disassembled or reassembled, depending on your point of view (maybe it's a glass half full or glass empty thing?) So, overall, nothing fancy, but still a handsome addition to your collection that would look very nice lined up with some of Kino Lorber's other Raro releases.

The Audio + Video: Good

I'm not in love with the look of Body Puzzle as a whole, which surprised me since cinematographer Luigi Kuveiller has lensed films like Lucio Fulci's A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (1971), Paul Morrisey's Flesh for Frankenstein (1973) and Blood for Dracula (1974), and Dario Argento's Deep Red (1975); all films with much stronger imagery. Overall, a lot of the film is a little desaturated and washed out. BUT, from a technical standpoint, the transfer is very clear and when things do occasionally pick up visually, they look very nice. There's a little light haloing in exterior shots, and a little extra visual noise in the darker interiors, but nothing unusual. 

What I did really enjoy was the sound in Body Puzzle. Composer Carlo Maria Cordio plays with a lot of tinkly synths and deep drum sounds that all slowly build at just the right moments. There's also repeated use of Modest Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain, which you may know from the scariest part of Disney's Fantasia (1940), which essentially functions as the killer's psych-up music and is actually a pretty fun bit. An interesting fact I learned from the commentary track is that director Lamberto Bava initially used Carl Orff's O Fortuna, which you may know from such films as John Boorman's Excalibur (1981), Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers (1994), or Steve Carr's Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009). Unfortunately, he wasn't able to actually use it for these sequences and chose the Mussorgsky piece as a fall-back.

Special Features: Average

There's not a lot of meat on the bone here, if I'm being honest. Aside from the commentary track (the release's saving grace for me), the only special features are trailers for The .44 Specialist (1976), and Body Puzzle itself. The commentary track, from film historians and hosts of Wild, Wild Podcast Adrian Smith and Rod Barnett, is very informative and the two have a fun, easygoing rapport that makes it actively fun to listen to.

• Commentary track from Adrian Smith and Rod Barnett
• Trailers
• Body Puzzle (1992) (1:12)
• The .44 Specialist (1976) (3:22)

In Summary: Borrow from the library

Obviously, if you're deep in the paint for Giallo films and looking to snatch up the last few stragglers to cap off your collection, absolutely scoop this one at your earliest convenience. But for the general public (like me) who are just interested in a fun trip to Giallo country, this doesn't fully satisfy. Without the expected stylish, memorable visuals, all you are left holding on to is a plot that's designed to make you believe you're well ahead of what's going on.

You aren't. Or at least not as much as you think you are, which is ultimately really pretty fun and crazy when all's said and done, but it's not a great time all the way through. So maybe check this one out first and decide if it's worth the space on your shelf.

THE SMASHING MACHINE (2025) - A24

The Smashing Machine
A24

Original Release Date Oct. 3rd, 2025
Written by Benny Safdie
Directed by Benny Safdie
Starring Rock "The Dwayne" Johnson, Emily Blunt, Ryan Bader
Language English (Descriptive Audio available) (English and Spanish subtitles available)

Get your copy HERE from Diabolik

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, MovieJawn Podcast Director and Staff Writer 

The Smashing Machine comes to Blu-ray from A24. Benny Safdie's solo directorial debut, The Smashing Machine offers insight into the life of real world MMA legend Mark Kerr. A24's release of The Smashing Machine features excellent audio and visual fidelity with a respectable crop of bonus features.

The Movie Itself: Good

The Smashing Machine is an interesting beast. Benny Safdie adapts John Hyams' 2002 documentary of the same name into a biopic of mixed martial artist Mark Kerr starring Rock "The Dwayne" Johnson in  what I think is his first serious and dramatic role. If not, it is at least a dramatic (no pun intended) change of pace from his recent cinematic output. What's more is, he's quite good and the film itself is very winning and engaging overall.

If The Rock is looking for a career beyond being "Franchise Viagra", The Smashing Machine is perhaps the best venue for his first big steps in that direction, all due to the environment that the story is set in. If Rock were to try his hand in a role like Howard Ratner (played by Adam Sandler in the Safdie Bros.' 2019 film Uncut Gems), a jeweler in NYC, his physique would stand out and be a distraction. By placing The Rock in a world where he will be surrounded by also very large, muscular folks, it essentially erases his muscles, or rather it normalizes them (nothing could erase those Bad Larrys). This allows for his performance to really stand out.

Personally, I think he should have gotten a nomination from the Academy. Not because it was an especially great performance, and certainly not because I think it had a shot of winning but because, for The Rock, who makes his public persona as much about the business as the craft (he is, after all. the person who introduced me to the concept of "verticals" which I still only vaguely understand) I wonder if he'll ever take a risk like this again without that recognition to fuel him. As someone who loves when actors avoid being pigeonholed, and even more so when they can surprise me, I think the landscape of film would be much more interesting if everyone got to try new things.

Of course, Rock aside, the film is very well made. The look (shot on 16mm by cinematographer Maceo Bishop), the jazzy score (Nala Sinephro), the dramatic arc of Mark Kerr's career and personal struggles, and many of the performances surrounding Kerr (notably Emily Blunt as Kerr's volatile girlfriend Dawn, Ryan Bader as one of Kerr's best friends and fellow fighter Mark Coleman, and MMA veteran / all-around lunatic Bas Rutten as himself, acting as a trainer for Kerr) all contribute to a wonderfully unique sports drama. As Emily Blunt points out in one of the bonus features, while many sports stories are about chasing victory, The Smashing Machine is more focused on picking up the pieces of the life around that chase.

The Packaging: Good

This is the first A24 physical release I've encountered and the presentation is very unique, as you might expect from A24. A card stock sleeve, which for some reason opens on the left whereas most similar packaging opens on the right, reveals an also card stock folding sleeve inside with the disc (in a plastic tray) and some photo cards. The photo cards are a mix of behind-the-scenes photos and photographs taken within the movie, as Mark Kerr (and etc.) are frequently being photographed by fans and reporters. It's a clever addition to the package, beyond just including reproductions of stills which is a lot more common.

The packaging itself is quite handsome with a lot of those film stills reproduced in really lovely color and with an overall very colorful, cleanly laid out look to all the titles and text. But seriously, I am always thrown by the inner sleeve sliding out to the left.

The Video: Excellent

I love the look of this film. I love the look of film, period, and cinematographer Maceo Bishop said a really interesting thing that instantly put him on my Filmmakers To Watch list: "Digital is a conversation with perfection, 16mm is a conversation with failure". I find that outlook absolutely fascinating and, without knowing his entire deal, I think I understand where he's coming from. When so much can be recreated "perfectly", there are no happy accidents, but by shooting on film, you have all sorts of things that are manageable rather than omnipotently controllable.

The Smashing Machine has light leak, and moments of the stadium lights shining directly into the lens which creates some of, hands down, my favorite images of the entire film. Even in its visually darkest moments, the look of the film feels like a jewel box, with deep colors and a real tactile feeling to all the textures of the movie: worn out gym mats, sweat-soaked clothing, a bowl that has been replaced using Kintsugi, the Japanese repair art where gold is used to mend cracks in pottery; it's all so sensual.

The Audio: Good

Much of this film is kind of quiet, in general. There are crowd sporting event scenes, there are arguments, but the balance was impeccably maintained. The only issues I had where some minor buzzing in my 3-channel soundbar as a result of some of the tones of the score. Also, my roommate's cats, who watched the film with me (read: slept nearby) did NOT like some of the sustained notes, but that's a them problem, I will not be docking the film at all for that.

The score, though, is tremendous. Nala Sinephro, who composed the film's music with the improvisational nature of MMA in mind, and also appears in the film playing the harp, delivers piece after piece of emotionally resonant and engrossing music. It all seems to be harp and drums, or at least I believe that was what I noticed most, and it's really fantastic.

Beyond that, environmental details in the mix were also extremely well utilized. Mark Kerr's story is a very public one, involving a lot of travel, so things like songs on a car radio, passengers on a train, street sounds, other folks sharing the gym; it all adds to the documentary-like immersion of the film.

The Supplements: Average

The bonus features here are solid. My one caveat is that a lot of the most interesting stuff presented in the supplements is repeated in the commentary from Benny Safdie, so whichever one you partake in first will likely take some of the punch out of the other. That's not to say that there aren't plenty of things to chew on, however. The one thing I was fascinated by was the realization that the prosthetics The Rock wore to better resemble Mark Kerr had to withstand a LOT of wear and tear: sweat, impact, etc. Prosthetic designer Kazu Hiro also had to sculpt different appliances depending on how swollen Mark is supposed to be at any given time.

• Commentary with writer/director Benny Safdie
• "What it Means to be a Fighter: Making The Smashing Machine" Featurette (25:09) (HD)
• 16mm Camera Test (9:09) (HD)
• Deleted Scenes:
• Bob's Burgers (2:39) (HD)
• Buddhist Temple (4:01) (HD)

Final Thoughts: Buy it on sale

The Smashing Machine isn't my favorite sports drama, it's not my favorite film from either Safdie brother, and it's not my favorite Rock "The Dwayne" Johnson film, but it is almost impeccably well made and I genuinely think The Rock should have gotten some real recognition for the effort he put forth here. Beyond just sitting for hours for prosthetics applications, or the changes in his speech and physicality that he is absolutely demonstrating here, he also put himself through a ton of physical abuse, agreeing to not only get into that kind of shape, but to perform as much of the sport fighting as was possible in the sake of realness.

I also haven't given enough flowers to Emily Blunt but she's doing exactly what I think The Rock (and so many others) wants to: stretch. Dawn is a BIG character and to describe her as "volatile" (which I did above) is a massive understatement. But underneath that, Blunt finds Dawn's vulnerability, the brokenness in the character (who is based on a real person, remember) that makes not only Dawn, but Mark as well, that much more human.