THE MANITOU

Once again, Anchor Bay goes off to salvage with the 1978 quasi-classic, THE MANITOU.  Not surprisingly, Anchor Bay manages to pull off yet another coup.  And this time around, Anchor Bay pulls from the depths a story about a woman with a strange growth on the back of her neck. It expands exponentially, is comprised of flesh and bone--did I mention it has mind control powers?  Yeah, it has mind control powers.

BLOOD TRAILS

BLOOD TRAILS is an excellent lesson in judging a book by its cover, or rather, why you shouldn't engage in just such practices.  Sure, they've got these bloody gear / sawblade things on the cover art and the first minute of footage just screams "torture porn!" at the top of its merry little lungs, but when you wear past this less than auspicious beginning, what you're left with is a halfway decent package.

RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD: RAVE TO THE GRAVE

There is a point when a movie becomes a full-bore franchise, around the second or maybe third sequel.  In a way, this elevates a movie, showing that it has stood the test of time.  And in another, it's a stomach-churning sort of affair.  Usually a movie's inexorable slide downhill is when it finally reaches that great metaphorical tenure of franchising.  Look at HELLRAISER, for crying out loud.  How many sequels were in that misery train and was a one of them any good? Not really.

GRIM REAPER

Every so often, I find a movie that really tests me.  Maybe sometimes it tests my patience, or my cognitive reasoning center, or maybe even my sheer tolerance for insanity.  This week was no different, but this time, I faced down the sheer power of a new idea.  Executed really, really poorly.