FULL MOON HIGH (1981) - Eureka Entertainment

Full Moon High
Eureka Entertainment

Original Release Date Oct. 9th, 1981
Written by Larry Cohen
Directed by Larry Cohen
Starring Adam Arkin, Roz Kelly, Ed McMahon, Elizabeth Hartman, Alan Arkin
Language English (subtitles available)

Purchase yours HERE from Eureka, or HERE from Diabolik

by "Doc" Hunter Bush,
MovieJawn Staff Writer & Podcast Director, cohost of the Hate Watch/Great Watch Podcast

The Movie: Average

As a disclaimer: I received a check disc for this film, which is a review copy that doesn't have the final artwork or packaging. This may also mean some discrepancies between my copy and the finished version. This release is also Region B only, meaning this primarily applies to folks in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand OR those of us with region free players.

The 1980s was the decade of the werewolf. Stephen King's Silver Bullet (1985), two Teen Wolf films, five Howling films, Wolfen (1981), My Mom's a Werewolf (1989), An American Werewolf in London (1981), The Company of Wolves (1984), and even Monster Squad (1987) where it was determined that Wolfman has indeed got nards, all premiered in the same decade, as did writer/director Larry Cohen's Full Moon High. A comedic reimagining of I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) which starred Michael Landon in the lead role (and also inspired a rad song from The Cramps), Full Moon High finds high school football star and heartthrob Tony (Adam Arkin) traveling to Romania as a cover for his CIA agent father (Ed McMahon)'s covert agenda.

He is, of course bitten and once he returns home the film plays out as expected for a while, with a werewolf menacing the town, biting peoples' butts, before jumping via montage from the '60s to the '80s. Having wandered the globe for twenty years, the immortal Tony returns home with the idea that if he re-enrolls in high school, rejoins the football team and helps lead them to victory, he will be cured of his werewolf curse. Needless to say, Full Moon High is not your typical werewolf film, which makes sense because Larry Cohen is not your typical filmmaker.

I've been a fan of Larry Cohen's since I first saw The Stuff (1985). In addition to that film's eldritch horror-meets-consumerism plot, there is a rich vein of zaniness running through it that I just found infectious, and over the years, I've watched and enjoyed a great number of his movies, across multiple genres. We even discussed the fantastic and crazy American kaiju movie Q: the Winged Serpent (1982) on an episode of the Hate Watch/Great Watch Podcast last year (which you can listen to HERE)! So I was very excited to check this one out.

This is Larry Cohen's first (only?) pure comedy film, and his approach to jokes is in line with Zucker Bros. films like Airplane (1980). This kind of rapid-fire structure prioritizes joker-per-minute over logic, which means, even more than with comedies in general, you mileage may vary. The upside is that when a joke fails to land, you barely have time to register it before two more have taken its place in your short-term memory, but the downside is that things like character development take a backseat to whatever is funniest in the moment. This might work for background characters; this one is "the horny one", this one is "the kleptomaniac", or whatever, but it prevents your leads from developing dimensionality.

Maybe this doesn't matter to you. Maybe it does. Regardless, while there certainly are a lot of jokes in Full Moon High, they're not all going to work. There are definite high points though! The cast which, in addition to Arkin and McMahon, features Roz Kelly, an appearance from Pat Morita, and Bob Saget in his big screen debut, are all committed to their respective bits. There are some very smart genre parodies and meta jokes, like how Tony can always hear the violin playing on the soundtrack that signals the werewolf is coming, or the repeated newspaper headline gags. My personal highlight was Alan Arkin (Adam's real life dad) as Dr. Brand, who is introduced trying to shame a man into not jumping off of a building (it doesn't work) before being brought in to negotiate the surrender of now publicly known werewolf Tony (this doesn't really work either). Papa Arkin just has what used to be called "it" and is now more commonly referred to as "rizz". I could watch that guy in anything.

The Packaging: 

As I mentioned above, the copy I received did not have packaging, so I am leaving this section blank.

The Audio + Video: Excellent

I loved everything about this transfer. The colors are vibrant but not aggressive, the blacks are deep, but never overwhelm the balance of the composition. If the original theatrical trailer, which is included among the special features, is anything to go by, this didn't seem to demand as much of a visual overhaul as some films, but it sure is clearer and crisper looking. The trailer maintains a lot of the color and light/dark balance, but was extremely grainy. In this restoration there is certainly some film grain present, but not so you'd consciously notice. Even in lower light sequences, the images are very clean.

The mix is equally good. There are instances where dialogue was clearly recorded later (automatic dialogue replacement, or ADR) but none of it is egregious. The score, especially the violin running gag, is well mixed and balanced and there was never any point where I felt the need to adjust my three-channel sound bar's volume up or down after I'd set the level.

Special Features: Good

The extras here do a very respectable job of providing what I consider to be the paramount aspect of a bonus features section: context. The information provided gives me a good idea of where Full Moon High came in Cohen's career, what some of his social concerns were at the time, why he may have decided to make an unadulterated comedy, and what films were influences on it. The Growing Pains video essay by Kaja Franck contrasts certain aspects of Full Moon High with their counterpoints from I Was a Teenage Werewolf, but I would really have liked a more in-depth comparison.

Also, as a heads-up: I only checked out the commentary track with Larry Cohen (and Steve Mitchell, who directed and produced the 2017 documentary King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen) so I don't know if this was an issue with both commentaries or not, but the volume level of their conversation is much lower than the audio of the film, so when there is occasionally dead air, or breaks were taken, and the film's volume takes over, it's VERY loud. I don't consider this to be an issue with the film's audio overall, as it won't affect a regular degular viewing of the flick, but I felt it should be mentioned.

• Audio commentary with director Larry Cohen
• Audio commentary with Steve Mitchell
• Today's Teenage Werewolf: interview with Michael Doyle (25:00)
• Growing Pains: video essay by Kaja Franck (18:15)
• Original theatrical trailer (1:40)

In Summary: Buy it on sale

I'm a die hard Larry Cohen fan and everything, but that doesn't mean I think everything he's ever done is great. This, for me, is mid at best. Some jokes work, some don't, but they are given prominence over Cohen's usual flair for character work meaning the film comes off as a little unfocused. Still, as far as films that are heavily inspired by I Was a Teenage Werewolf go, I vastly prefer this to Halloween Ends (2022).

Full Moon High may not be my favorite of Larry Cohen's works, but it's a fun enough time and might just be worth seeing for Alan Arkin's performance alone. If you're a werewolf completist, or are looking for some horror-adjacent Halloween season viewing, Full Moon High might be exactly what you're after.

CLOUD (2024) / CHARISMA (1999) - Eureka Entertainment

Cloud / Charisma
Eureka Entertainment

Original Release Date Sept 27th, 2026 (Cloud, Japan) / February 26th, 1999 (Charisma, Japan)

Written by Kiyoshi Kurosawa 

Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Starring Masaki Suda, Kotone Furukawa, Kōji Yakusho, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Yoriko Dôguchi

Language Japanese (English subtitles available)

Purchase yours HERE from Eureka, or HERE from Diabolik

by "Doc" Hunter Bush,
MovieJawn Staff Writer & Podcast Director, cohost of the Hate Watch/Great Watch Podcast

The Movies: Excellent

As a disclaimer: I received check discs for these films, which are review copies that don't have the final artwork or packaging. This may also mean some discrepancies between my copies and the finished versions. This dual release is also Region B only, meaning this primarily applies to folks in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand OR those of us with region free players.

I am no expert in the films of Kiyoshi Kurosawa. I saw Pulse (2001) when it first came out in the U.S., but I don't remember many details; it's all just lumped in with other films of the J-Horror boom. Much more recently, I have seen Cure (1997) and Sweet Home (1989), both of which I enjoyed, but that's about it as far as my pre-existing knowledge. I wasn't even aware that Kurosawa had directed Sweet Home when I watched it. So if you had pointed all those out to me and asked me if I was "a fan" I would probably have said "Sure?"

Not now though. Having watched both Cloud (2024) and Charisma (1999), two very different films united by Kurosawa's particular vision, I can definitively say "I am now a fan of Kiyoshi Kurosawa." It's an ineffable thing, but I just enjoy the way he makes movies. Both Cloud and Charisma are written as well as directed by Kurosawa, and while there are thematic corollaries, they're really very different films. Cloud is an experience that starts as something like The Strangers (2008) and ends up somewhere akin to Mother! (2017), while Charisma is like Return to Oz (1985) with a touch of The Princess Mononoke (1997).

Cloud follows Ryôsuke Yoshii (Masaki Suda), an online reseller, purchasing items and reselling them at an inflated price, as he becomes disenfranchised with his factory day job and quits to move with his girlfriend out to a suspiciously gorgeous house on a lake. Once there the film begins a slow slide away from the somewhat familiar setting and world, transforming into a supernatural-adjacent cautionary tale so gradually that you at first feel completely buffaloed before realizing this had been inevitable the entire time.

Charisma even more quickly abandons its recognizable world, with overworked police detective Goro Yabuike (repeat Kurosawa collaborator Kōji Yakusho) heading into a forest populated with multiple groups willing to battle over their viewpoints, all centered around a rare tree, known as Charisma, and its negative effect on the forest around it. Each faction differs on what they think should be done to / with Charisma, and they're more than willing to go head-to-head over this disagreement.

Both films are allegorical and examine issues of identity and loneliness, two of Kurosawa's pet concerns, but their approach and focus vary widely. In Cloud, Yoshii has wracked up an impressive number of adversaries through his unethical business practices, yet is unaware that he has been constructing the engine of his destruction all along and that his online identity will not hide him forever. In Charisma, Yakusho wanders from one camp to another, largely unbothered by anyone, as they each try to enlist him to their respective points of view. At some point, he inevitably decides to take control of the situation and choose what happens next, but will he be prepared for the repercussions of his actions? Will any of us?

The Packaging: 

As I mentioned above, the copies I received did not have packaging, so I am leaving this section blank.

The Audio + Video: Excellent

Both these transfers look tremendous. It's a little more impressive for Charisma, which comes to us from over a quarter century ago, but I was repeatedly shocked with the visual sharpness and clarity in Cloud as well. There's one brief shot in Cloud, of Yoshii's girlfriend Akiko (Kotone Furukawa) walking by a car and her reflection across its roof is as clear as the rest of her. It's not an especially impressive shot (or, I should say not deliberately impressive) but it was just gorgeous. This is indicative of Kurosawa's eye. He also favors silhouette, negative space, and strong backlighting and I was enraptured by the soft halos of light coming into the dark spaces throughout Charisma.

That's another aspect of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's filmmaking that really appeals to me: his visual aesthetic is so all-encompassing. It permeates every shot, all locations, thoroughly. There's a stateliness to his shot composition that often feels grander than the subject matter. It's a similar feeling to viewing art in a gallery: these objects and images, though often outwardly mundane, are presented as though they have a greater weight than you may at first realize. It's, if not meditative, then certainly contemplative.

Kurosawa utilizes music with specificity and deliberation. Off the top of my head, I can't remember much about the score of Cloud (by Takuma Watanabe), but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It means it coalesced perfectly with what I was feeling throughout. I can, however, summon up a particular bouncy bit of percussion and wind from the Charisma score (by Gary Ashiya, also the composer for Cure) not only because it's used repeatedly, but is in such seeming juxtaposition to the events of the film that every time I noticed it, I spent time considering what it was conveying. In the end it lends the whole film the feeling of a fable, something of importance, with a lesson and consequences, but with a sense of gleeful adventure beneath or behind it all.

On a more technical level, the quality of the audio mix for both films was impeccable. I utilize a three-channel sound bar and I never had to adjust the volume, though I will mention that the commentary tracks for each film, from Dr. Jonathan Wroot, world cinema teacher and Japanese cinema researcher from the University of Greenwich, are slightly louder. So if you're back-to-backing any of these films with a commentary watch, you might want to bump it down a notch or two, lest you get spooked.

Special Features: Excellent

Between these two discs, I believe Eureka has put together a perfect release as far as context goes. As I said above, this release has cemented me as a Kiyoshi Kurosawa fan and that is due as much to the quality and style of the work as it does to the context provided in the bonus features. The two aforementioned commentary tracks from Dr. Jonathan Wroot did a lot to help me organize my thoughts on Kurosawa by answering many questions I had about the works, but those combined with the video essay A Cerebral Cinema by Joe Hickinbottom is what really catalyzed everything. 

As a heads-up, the disc for Cloud only features the trailer, while the disc for Charisma has two featurettes in addition to the trailer for that film (which actually gives away some big concepts, but I digress). Personally, I love the inclusion of the trailers for the simple fact that it gives me something substantial to compare the video transfer against, as trailers are typically unrestored.

• Cloud commentary track with Dr. Jonathan Wroot
• Cloud trailer (1:02)
• Charisma commentary track with Dr. Jonathan Wroot
• A Cerebral Cinema: the works of Kiyoshi Kurosawa, video essay by Joe Hickinbottom (28:15)
• Making of Charisma (30:00)
• Charisma trailer (0:34)

In Summary: Must Own

Y'all. I am deep in the pocket for Kiyoshi Kurosawa now! I really loved Cure when I watched it, and Sweet Home is cool (and the main inspiration for the Resident Evil games, fun fact), but it wasn't until unpacking the two featurettes here that I began to have an understanding of Kurosawa's interests. To me, his films feel like they don't just ask questions, they feel like they ARE questions, and they don't have an answer. Even now, with this revelation freshly in mind, thinking back on my experience watching Cure, I believe I'm onto something.

Kurosawa isn't concerned with telling you what he thinks. More than any filmmaker I can think of off the top of my head, he's interested in allowing you all the information you need to make your own decisions and then sit in that interpretation. It comes back to what I said about standing in a gallery, considering the art; there is no right or wrong way to appreciate it. What's important is that you appreciate it at all and consider what you believe it is saying.

THE KILLING TIDE (1997) - VHShitfest / Vinegar Syndrome

The Killing Tide
VHShitfest / Vinegar Syndrome

Original Release Date 1997
Written by David Dubay
Directed by David Dubay
Starring Steve Jones, Benedetto Sorrentino II, Carl Lamb, John St. James, John McKinnon
Language options English (English & Japanese subtitles available)

Buy it HERE from Vinegar Syndrome, or HERE from Diabolik.

by "Doc" Hunter Bush,
MovieJawn Staff Writer & Podcast Director, cohost of the Hate Watch/Great Watch Podcast

The Killing Tide comes to Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome partner label VHShitfest. Writer / director David Dubay moved up from film advertising to producing and eventually this, his debut and only feature. VHShitfest's release of The Killing Tide features a very respectable video transfer and audio package with an excellent selection of bonus features.

The Movie Itself: Excellent

I love big, dumb action movies. To be fair, I enjoy a LOT of different genres and styles of film, but over-the-top action films will always have a special place in my heart. There are, of course, good ones, but I have a special affinity for the Big Swings. Weird vanity or passion projects that have more chutzpah than professional polish. The Killing Tide isn't quite one of those, but it certainly scratches the itch for me.

Writer / director David Dubay began his film career in advertising, working for a company responsible for I Spit on Your Grave (1978) and The Boogeyman (1982) before transitioning to producing films like Brainwaves (1982), The Devonsville Terror (1983), and The Boogeyman 2 (1983) all with Ulli Lommel directing. Lommel, who had come up as an actor under Rainer Werner Fassbinder shared Fassbinder's ethos of getting a film made cheaply with Dubay, who brought that mindset home to Michigan where he made The Killing Tide.

When a local land deal causes the corrupt cops, lead by Sheriff Cody (Carl Lamb) to clash with local crime boss Bruno Kotarski (John St. James), with hitman-for-hire Frank (Steve Jones) and his pal Benny (Benedetto Sorrentino II) caught in the middle and given good reason to wipe everyone involved off the board. Bullets fly, bodies fall, cars flip, a helicopter crashes, and numerous unconventional methods of dispatching one's enemies are utilized from, including one notable high-rise hanging with a firehose. The whole thing is awash in casual nudity, crass language, and great, bad, hard-nosed dialogue, all set against the backdrop of a citywide 4th of July celebration!

Part Steven Seagal vanity rampage, part low-budget stunt show and part cartoonish power fantasy, The Killing Tide is a genuinely entertaining independently-made film that is so under-seen I don't think it even qualifies as a cult classic... yet. VHShitfest is truly out here doing the (dark?) lord's work trying to spread the word about hidden gems that went completely overlooked during the DVD era. In the case of The Killing Tide, I believe it only received a Japanese VHS release.

I cannot understate how ambitious a film Killing Tide is. I love Big Swings in films, and this is awash in them. There's a really fascinating interview with the director included in the bonus features that answered a lot of my questions, but they still "crash" a "helicopter" in this flick! I will not explain why certain of those words are in quotes except to shrug and say: Movie Magic. I hope that piques your interest enough to take a chance checking it out.

The Packaging: Good

This is a solid release, offered in the style and up to the expected quality of your usual Vinegar Syndrome partner label releases. The case is of the slightly wider, sturdier, clear variety, allowing for you to appreciate the double-sided cover. On one side is an image of a blonde woman lying facedown with poker chips spilled across her back as well the silhouettes of two figures hanging upside down. The reverse is similar, with the image of the woman with the poker chips, but also a Polaroid of Frank standing over a figure lying prone next to a helicopter. This cover also includes some Japanese writing, so I'm guessing it is either recreating or referencing the cover of the Japanese VHS release.

The Video: Good

When viewed in a void, you might think my rating is a little high. This is obviously a low budget VHS-era film, with some, but importantly not all, of the flaws that come with that. I was expecting much worse, or rather, I didn't know what to expect, so I was preparing myself. I was pleasantly surprised, however! Since this restoration comes directly from the original master, there are no tracking issues, no ghosting, none of that.

The visuals are pretty sharp, all things considered, and the colors are quite vivid in a seedy, neo-noir way. By contrast, the Japanese VHS version (included in the bonus features) looks closer to what I was imagining (though, still, notably better than some things that come across my desk). The opening sequence is almost aggressively green and I was initially worried about the color balance, but I think it just WAS that green along the river at that time of year (in fairness, it was July).

The Audio: Good

As with the visuals, I was prepared for much worse, but by and large the audio here is very well-preserved. There's a certain dustiness, a muffled sound to some of the dialogue, but nothing is ever unintelligible. Well, not from an audio quality standpoint. The dialogue still has that vintage, 1990s tough-guy silliness to it: "I got ugliness on my eyes, sheriff. I got their corpses on my brain. My face feels like shit, sheriff." and my three-channel soundbar delivered them all with aplomb.

A special shout-out demands to be made, to Mark Rivera and Tony Beard who performed several original songs on the soundtrack, notably "Rescue Me", which plays in its entirety over the opening credits sequence. My note refers to it as "...legally not Phil Collins" which isn't exactly right, but y'know: first thought, best thought. The synths are less energetic, but the commitment to plaintive crooning and evocative imagery is close.

Before moving on, I just want to clarify that these songs, but especially "Rescue Me" are bangers! A thing can be of a quote/unquote "imperfect" quality and still be really damned satisfying. I am still humming "Rescue Me", as I write this!

The Supplements: Excellent

I was very pleased with the supplemental options offered here and that was before I checked them out! The interviews with writer / director David Dubay and actor Benedetto Sorrentino II were both really illuminating about the experience, especially in the places where they disagreed. But regardless, I went into the features after my viewing of the film having really enjoyed the experience, and I came out of them kind of loving Dubay, his crew, and the people of Macomb County, Michigan who by all accounts were really on-board with a local boy making a movie.

Dubay's historical documentary / local tourism Clinton River Chronicles is included, as well as the Japanese VHS version which seems, aside from some differences in quality and the presence of Japanese subtitles, like exactly the same movie? As far as I could tell, all the violence, language, and nudity present in the main release was still there, which, having no real knowledge of international VHS release guidelines at the time, I wasn't sure would be the case.

• Commentary track with actor Steve Jones
• Interview with writer/director David Dubay (56:17) (HD)
• Interview with actor Benedetto Sorrentino II (26:35) (HD)
• Location Tour (5:15) (HD)
• Clinton River Chronicles (1995) (1:06:23) (SD)
• Japanese VHS Version (1:24:41) (SD)
• Original Trailer (1:58) (SD)

Final Thoughts: Highly Recommended

I'm right on the cusp of giving this the highest possible recommendation. Not because it is the pinnacle of cinematic achievement or anything, but because it deserves to be seen by as many people as possible. Certainly, for fans of action cinema, or film preservation, I would say this is a Must Watch.

For normies (no disrespect meant) I still highly recommend this as a testament to what one man can do when given a small support system (which, in this case, necessarily includes the local government). I know I knocked the quality of certain aspects, but I'm just, as folks used to say, keepin' it real. In my estimation, The Killing Tide is an instant hangout classic that demands to be shared with some buddies.

HONG KONG 1941 (Eureka)

Hong Kong 1941
(Eureka)
Originally Released Nov. 1st, 1984 
Written by Koon-Chung Chan
Directed by Po-Chih Leong
Starring Cecilia Yip, Chow Yun-Fat, Alex Man, Paul Chun, Wu Ma
Language: Cantonese (w/English subtitles) and optional English dub track

Buy it HERE from Eureka, HERE from MVD, or HERE from Diabolik

by "Doc" Hunter Bush,
MovieJawn Staff Writer & Podcast Director, cohost of the Hate Watch/Great Watch Podcast

The Movie: Excellent

An action romance with epic aspirations but a much more intimate focus, Hong Kong 1941 gallops through set-ups and familiar story beats with a looseness that I really enjoyed. To be fair, there's a lot to set up: Yip (Chow Yun-Fat) comes to Hong Kong to stay with his very sweet aunt and decidedly salty uncle. He butts up against local tough guy Wong (Alex Man) and falls for the sickly but lovely local girl--who Wong is also, somewhat secretly enamored with--Nam (Cecilia Yip). The three of them are fast friends, and form a loose love triangle where everybody behaves themselves (mostly).

There's also some complications involving a local rice magnate who happens to be Nam's father who just fires his workers whenever they want to be paid fairly; a local crime boss / politician Chairman Liu (Wu Ma), and police sergeant Fa-wing (Paul Chun) who especially has it out for Wong. As interwoven as our three leads' lives are with each other, they're being equally dragged into confrontations with these outside obstacles and aggressors. As I said, there's a lot of track to lay before the film drops its biggest bomb: actual bombs.

The spine of this story is built around the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during World War II. So on top of the ephemeral, emotional stakes are incredibly tangible, real-world hardships and danger. For what it's worth, I think the script, by Koon-Chung Chan, does an incredible job balancing these things. The war is never fully just a backdrop for the interpersonal drama, it's never allowed to feel commonplace. Scenes that are primarily about developing our leads' stories or characters also showcase actions of the invading Japanese army, from the comparatively innocuous--like rewarding children with food for singing in Japanese--to the outright hideous--hunting down and assaulting the local women.

The fact that Hong Kong 1941 manages to maintain an (overall) light feeling is truly impressive. The love triangle never feels overwrought, the violence and danger never feels excessive, and the whole thing works thanks to director Po-Chih Leong, editor Peter Cheung, and the performances of our leads. I've been a fan of Chow Yun-Fat for a long time. He just has an effortlessness to him that borders on cocky without, for me, ever tipping over the line. Both Alex Man and Cecilia Yip play extremely well off of him and each other, and you can really feel and understand that they all care for each other.

As a war movie, Hong Kong 1941 might be lacking in scope, but that was never its focus. While a war, which is a comparatively abstract concept, can most certainly be interesting, it's the people affected by it that make a story worth telling.

The Packaging: Excellent

Eureka Entertainment's cases are just a bit larger than your standard, closer to Criterion's, which is either nice, because it feels a bit sturdier, or annoying if you'd like all of your Blu-rays to be uniform. This one also comes with a cardboard slip and a reversible cover. The minimalist art on the slip--a hand holding a katana, with our three leads in miniature, standing on the tsuba (guard), in high contrast black and blood red on a deep orange background--is on one side of the cover, with a fantastic painted illustration of Yip, Wong, and certain key scenes on the other.

Also included is a booklet featuring an essay from Hong Kong and Chinese Cinema specialist Gary Bettinson about director Po-Chih Leong which gives a very solid overview of his career. If you've read any of my other Disc Dispatches, you'll know I love context. Additionally there are some wonderful photos from the production in the booklet.

The Audio + Video: Excellent

I thought this looked tremendous. The opening scene (maybe two?) had a slight peach tint to things that I wasn't crazy about. On one hand, it had the overall effect of a sepia filter in that it sort of helped sell the whole "this story takes place in the past" thing, but I was worried it would overstay its welcome. It doesn't, subtly fading to something cooler that makes the blues and greens in the costumes and locations pop and somehow feels more urgent and in-the-moment.

There's some film grain present, but it's a good amount; it lets you feel the movie, the weight of its history. Something I noticed near the end of the film that I found weirdly charming is that you can, occasionally, see the shadows of moths circling the set lights. Imperfections, if you even want to think of them as such, are proof that this was made by people, and through, I'm sure, no small amount of effort. I love that.

I noticed no issues with the audio at all. There is a certain distance to the sound that is era appropriate, but it's not nearly as noticeable as other films from this era. Whether this is the result of the filmmaking at the time, or any sort of restoration, I'm not sure. Regardless, everything came through very clearly, even at times when contrasting sounds--like a gentle score playing alongside the sounds of a boat engine--were present.

Special Features: Excellent

I won't pretend that every single piece of additional material on here was fascinating or enlightening, but much of it was. And there's just so much of it that I'm actually not sure where it was that I learned what became the background information I was most obsessed with: this was made because of Margaret Thatcher!

What I mean is (and forgive me if I'm getting details wrong): Thatcher bungled some deal or another which led to Britain losing their longstanding control of Hong Kong to the Chinese in 1984, which reminded many people (including filmmakers) of the Japanese invasion after Pearl Harbor in 1941. This film as well as a film called Love in a Fallen City (1984, dir. Ann Hui), both set in that era, were each released within the same year and, coincidentally, both star Chow Yun-Fat!

For reasons that I think should be obvious, I've been wondering about world history, the lessons we may or may not be learning from it, and the impact that has on people who just want to live their lives as peacefully as they are able. This gave me quite a lot to chew on.

• Tony Rayns on Hong Kong 1941 (30:29)
• Crossing Cultures with Po-Chih Leong (21:47)
• Po-Chih Leong on Hong Kong 1941 and Cultural Identity (recorded at East Film Fest 2023) (21:38)
• Archival Interviews
• Cecilia Yip 1 (29:09)
• Cecilia Yip 2 (4:23)
• Cecilia Yip 3 (11:33)
• Chow Yun-Fat 1 (13:13)
• Chow Yun-Fat 2 (5:33)
  
• Paul Chun (a.k.a. Paul Pui) (8:30)
• Hong Kong theatrical trailer (4:03)
• International release trailer (3:48)

• Included booklet with an essay from Gary Bettinson

In Summary: Buy it on sale

While I was knocked out by Hong Kong 1941, and I was, I admit that this type of film might not be for literally everyone. Sure, few films are, but some are, and it is for those that I'll reserve the absolute highest recommendation. As it stands, this is an incredibly strong offering. As a film, it's an excellent bit of historical melodrama. As a release this is incredibly rewarding, with plenty of additional materials to inform the production and its history. It's also the first time Hong Kong 1941 has been made available on Blu-ray outside of Asia.

This has some absolutely gorgeous moments, both visually and emotionally and I think anyone with an interest in Asian cinema would be well-served to have this on their shelves. 

STIR OF ECHOES steelbook (Lionsgate)

Stir of Echoes
Directed and written by David Koepp, based on the novel by Richard Matheson
Starring Kevin Bacon, Kathryn Erbe, Illeana Douglas, Kevin Dunn
Running time 1 hour and 39 minutes
Rated R by the MPA for violence, sexuality and language
On 4K, Blu-ray, and digital Dec. 10th from Lionsgate

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

Synopsis:

Tom Witzky (Kevin Bacon) is a blue-collar worker, a family man, the most ordinary guy in the world...who is about to be plunged into a shattering encounter with another world. And it doesn't matter that Tom doesn't believe in the supernatural. Because something supernatural has started to believe in Tom. After he is hypnotized at a neighborhood party, Tom changes. He sees things he can't explain and hears voices he can't ignore. As the horrific visions intensify, Tom realizes they are pieces of a puzzle, echoes of a crime calling out to be solved. But when his other-worldly nightmares begin coming true, Tom wants out. He desperately tries to rid himself of his eerie, unwanted powers - only to be seized by an irresistible compulsion to dig deeper and deeper into the mystery that is consuming his life. When at last he unearths the truth, it will draw him into the long-buried secret of a ghastly crime, a vengeful spirit...and the lethal price of laying that spirit to rest.

What Features Make it Special:

• Audio Commentary with Director David Koepp
• Visions of the Past: Re-visiting Stir of Echoes (2024 NEW featurette)
• Establishing Shot with Fred Murphy (2024 NEW featurette)
• Flipping the Switch: Directing Stir of Echoes
• Maggie's Memories: Inside Stir of Echoes
• Opening the Door: Designing Stir of Echoes
• Making of Stir of Echoes
• Sight of Spirits: Channeling the Paranormal
• Behind the Echoes
• The Mind's Eye: Beneath the Trance
• Special Effects
• Production Design
• Interviews with Cast and Crew
• Behind the Scenes
• Scene Comparisons
• Screen Tests
• Deleted Scenes
• Promotional Materials
• Breathe Original Music Video
• Theatrical Trailer

Why You Need to Add it to Your Media Library:

Beyond its solid pedigree-- based on a novel by genre legend Richard Matheson, with a stacked cast of talented character actors-- Stir of Echoes is an intimate portrait of growing madness, the dark heart of even the most serene neighborhood. From an effects standpoint, it relies mostly on the practical, with camera tricks and clever edits building an ever-present tension. It's not flashy, it's just a well-built thriller with some real chills and the exact right amount of supernaturality.

Confoundingly, even up into the last few years, it was rarely streamable until around the spooky season, making physical media a must. It's for that reason that I've held on to my original DVD-- with its silly plastic slipcover with black ...ectoplasm (?) on it--- for so long; I love introducing folks to this flick! Despite being reasonably well-received when it premiered, Stir of Echoes remains somewhat of an under-seen prize. The problem with Stir of Echoes is that it's a slow-build supernatural thriller that came out in 1999, but it isn't The Sixth Sense, so nobody really noticed.

And this version is ostensibly the best-looking one yet! In the Establishing Shot special feature, cinematographer Fred Murphy and 4K colorist Kostas Theodosiou detail the processes by which the 4K was constructed and fine-tuned, and it's very interesting if you're into the nitty-gritty of how these sorts of projects are accomplished. While both Murphy and Theodosiou are adamant about maintaining the spirit of the film, they're now able to fine-tune aspects that they weren't able to in the past; brightening one area of a scene, better balancing the lighting in between a shot and its reverse; things like that. The small tweaks the filmmakers wish they had the time and money for from the start. So make space on your shelf for this one, and watch it any time you like. Ghosts don't care what time of year it is so why should you?

Stir of Echoes is available on 4K, Blu-ray, and digital Dec. 10th from Lionsgate

Fantasia Fest 2021 - TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD (1972)

Fantasia Fest 2021
Tombs of the Blind Dead
Directed by Amando de Ossorio
Written by Jesús Navarro Carrión and Amando de Ossorio
Starring Lone Fleming, César Burner, María Elena Arpón
Running time 1 hour 41 minutes
Currently technically unrated but contains nudity and violence (including sexual assault)

By Hunter Bush

Tombs of the Blind Dead is... not a new movie. The first Italian horror film released in color in 1972 (1973 in the US, where it was edited to achieve a PG rating), it spawned a series of increasingly confusingly titled sequels: Return of the Blind Dead (1973), The Ghost Galleon (1974), and Night of the Seagulls (1975). The version playing at this year's Fantasia Fest is a restoration from Synapse Film, who plan to release a Blu-ray later this year with the original Italian/Spanish version, the edited US version and a third hybrid version that seems weird.

This restoration is absolutely gorgeous! I looked up some clips from the assorted earlier transfers and they look about what you'd expect for an unrestored horror flick released in 1972: washed out and grainy, while the audio sounded just as poor: tinny and decayed. The Synapse release, by contrast, has colors that are bright without seeming artificial, and sound that, with very few moments aside, is clear as a bell. So for those familiar with the flick, but maybe looking to upgrade whatever version they may have, I can't recommend this enough. If you've never seen Tombs however, rest assured that it's (largely) a really fun time.

When Virginia (María Elena Arpón) and Roger (César Burner) bump into Betty (Lone Fleming), an old friend of Virginia's, Roger invites her to join them on vacation. Roger's infatuation upsets Virginia since she and Betty previously had an experimental fling in school and Virginia sets off to hike alone and clear her head, spending the night in the church that happens to be the final resting place of the Blind Dead! As you may expect, things don't go great for her, but that's actually quite good for us watching!

The Blind Dead are very fun movie monsters. Depicted in a slight slow motion, their tattered robes flapping as they gallop on horseback, they're mostly silent and always underscored with a very light echo effect that adds a supernatural eeriness to them in a simple but highly effective way. They also have little desiccated skeletal t-rex arms which is pretty funny (also I'm pretty sure I saw one in the finale wearing what looked like a metallic oven mitt, lol).

The performances are fun, the gore is measured and the nudity is mostly very playful. There's a brief flashback to Virginia and Betty's dorm room fling that is, yes unnecessary cheap titillation, but ultimately very sweet? Is that weird to say? There's also obviously someone off camera simply blowing cigarette smoke past the lens to give the flashback a dreamlike, recollective quality and I found that a charming detail. Later when Virginia strips down before bed in the churchyard, she's filmed from the far side of her campfire, the flames obstructing our view of her Coppertone pale buns. Like I said, playful.

The movie loses me about 2/3 of the way through however. Virginia's ultimate fate is wrapped up (no spoilers here except to say that it takes place in a mannequin factory !!! and that rules) and, seemingly lacking direction, the film introduces two new characters as an excuse to explain some backstory. They also beef up the body count a bit, as any horrorhound would expect. Unfortunately they're also the catalyst for a sexual assault that serves no real purpose besides exploitation, which I understand - that was the name of the game at the time, but I just don't need it.

I'm not averse to that time of violence in a film If. It. Serves. A. Purpose. But this just doesn't. By comparison, Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left, released the same year, is a much more brutal viewing experience, but the act ultimately bothers me less because it matters and the film deals with it. In Tombs, the perpetrator isn't expressly punished and dies no more horrible a death than anyone else.

The film wraps up in a satisfying fashion - I'll never fail to enjoy filmmakers dripping blood on a cowering child - and with a banger of a sequel hook, but if you're interested in checking it off of some cinematic watchlist I just want you to be aware of what's in store for you. If you're still down, you could a lot worse than watching this restoration.

Tombs of the Blind Dead is screening at Fantasia Fest. Check showtimes HERE.

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