DVD Collectors Online

Carnival of Souls, a review by addicted2dvd

This weekend I decided to do some classic movies. I have not been a fan of classic movies for very long at all... I would say probably just a few years. Before that it was like pulling teeth to try to get me to watch anything earlier then 1980!

This weekend I decided to go with classics when I started to profile all the disc that came in a free boxset I got for subscribing to the Total Movie & Entertainment Magazine. This boxset has 40 classic movies (well what they consider classics) on 20 DVDs.


Carnival of Souls (1962)
Mary Henry is enjoying the day by riding around in a car with two friends. When challenged to a drag, the women accept, but are forced off of a bridge. It appears that all are drowned, until Mary, quite some time later, amazingly emerges from the river. After recovering, Mary accepts a job in a new town as a church organist, only to be dogged by a mysterious phantom figure that seems to reside in an old run-down pavilion. It is here that Mary must confront the personal demons of her spiritual insouciance.

My Thoughts:
As soon as I popped this one in it looked vaguely familiar. Turns out at some point I did see this one before... not sure if I caught it on cable one evening... or if I watched this disc shortly after I got it... but I did remember it more and more as I went on. It is a movie that I enjoyed a lot! I would love to get a better version of it. The quality on this one left much to be desired... but it was better then I was expecting it to be. It felt like I was watching a VHS tape that someone had recorded... on the slowest speed. I also had to turn up my volume quite a bit since the audio was rather low. but other then that it was just fine. But as I said... I will be looking for a better version on this one... hopefully with some extras!

(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Classics on August 17th, 2007)

CASS, a review by Rich

CASS



The incredible true story of how an orphaned Jamaican baby, adopted by an elderly white couple and brought up in an all white area of London, became one of the most feared and respected men in Britain. CASS grew up in a time before political correctness and was forced to endure racist bullying on a daily basis, until one day when the years of pent up anger came out in a violent burst. CASS found through violence the respect he never had and became addicted to the buzz of fighting. His way of life finally caught up with him when an attempted assassination on his life, saw him shot three times at point blank range. His inner strength somehow managed to keep him alive but he was left with a dilemma; whether to seek vengeance as the street had taught him, or renounce his violent past. This is the extraordinary story of his life.

For someone who grew up going to football in the late 70's and early 80's, albeit to a lower division club which did not have many incidences of hooliganism, I had read the book and hoped the film would be as mature and enlightening. Unfortunately this is a poorly put together effort, strayed considerably from the autobiography, and was badly acted from most lead characters.
It is more realistic that Green Street, but does not have the same bite and feel of Quadrophenia, I cannot see it being of any interest to anyone who did not live through the era, and I could only keep thinking it was a wasted opportunity of translating a good story to film.
 



(From Riches Random Reviews on January 6th, 2009)

The Hunger: The Complete First Season, a review by addicted2dvd

The Hunger: The Complete First Season (1997/Canada) Terence Stamp hosts the first season of this spine-tingling horror anthology series from Executive Producers Tony and Ridley Scott, which features a phenomenal cast of familiar faces as you've never seen them before. Inspired by leading genre writers, each episode will draw you into a mesmerizing world of terrifying characters and erotic encounters, where demons feed on the weaknesses of men and temptation consumes reason. Episodes: 1. The Swords 2. Menage a Trois 3. Necros 4. The Secret Shih-Tan 5. Bridal Suite 6. Room 17 7. Anais 8. No Radio 9. But at My Back I Always Hear 10. Red Light 11. I'm Dangerous Tonight 12. The Sloan Men 13. A Matter of Style 14. Hidebound 15. Fly-By-Night 16. The River of Night's Dreaming 17. The Lighthouse 18. The Face of Helen Bournouw 19. Plain Brown Envelope 20. The Other Woman 21. Clarimonde 22. Footsteps

---

Stars:
Terence Stamp as Host

Extras:

• Featurettes

I just finished the first season of this Anthology series that originally ran on Showtime in the mid '90s. It is a bit tough to review this set. I mean I enjoyed it quite a bit... but there is a lot of weird episodes in the set as well. I classify this as a horror anthology as it deals with vampires, ghosts and other supernatural beings. But then there is episodes that deals with normal murders and such as well. Since this series originally ran on Showtime each episode also has a bit of sex/nudity. Though nothing overly adult oriented. Each episode runs about 26min. Unfortunately I didn't care much for Terrance Stamp as the host. I even found myself fast forwarding through his little introductions to the episodes towards the end of the set. But over-all I would say it is worth checking out.






(From Addicted2dvd's Random TV Series Watched on May 5th, 2012)