DVD Collectors Online

The Color Out of Space, a review by Danae Cassandra

Die Farbe (The Color Out of Space)
Year of Release: 2010
Directed By: Huan Vu
Starring: Marco Leibnitz, Michael Kausch, Erik Rastetter, Ingo Heise
Genre: Horror

Overview:
Arkham, 1975: Jonathan Davis' father has disappeared. His tracks lead to Germany, to the Swabian-Franconian Forest where he was stationed after the Second World War. Jonathan sets out to find him and bring him home, but deep in the woods he discovers a dark mystery from the past. Based on H.P. Lovecraft's short novel "The Color Out of Space".

My Thoughts:
Perhaps the most horrifying thing is not what has happened, but what is yet to come.

Really well-done adaptation of Lovecraft's story.  I thought they made great choices for their low budget.  In filming in b&w they had a way to depict the alien otherness of the Colour, which is the real challenge of filming the story.  I can see the criticism for some viewers with the hot pink globules the filmmakers use to depict the Colour, but there is no way to accurately represent what Lovecraft says is indescribable, a color that does not exist on this Earth.  So I have no issues with the low-budget representation of the Colour.  All the performances were very strong, especially the two men playing Armin.  The score was also super effective in creating a tense, horrific atmosphere.

If you're looking for something fast paced, slick-looking and with lots of blood, look elsewhere.  This is a slow-moving, low budget, indie horror, with no gore.  Also skip if you don't like subtitles and can't speak German.  I thought this was really good though, and really enjoyed it.  Highly recommended for fans of Lovecraft's work.

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 4/5

2015 Horror Movie Count: 4

(From Horror/Halloween Marathon 2015 on October 9th, 2015)

Un homme et une femme, a review by Antares

Un homme et une femme (1966) 72/100 - This is a film that's burgeoning with style. yet rather thin on substance. The plot is so threadbare, it had to be padded out with an abundance of jump cuts and extraneous filler scenes to make it more than just a time travelogue of the mid sixties. But I can't complain, because at least I got to gaze upon Anouk Aimee for ninety plus minutes. She's another actress who can make the argument that today's actresses are just amalgamations of their plastic surgeons and fitness trainers. She's soft, alluring, mysterious and incredibly seductive, and you can believe that a man like Jean-Louis would drive all the way from Monte Carlo to Paris, non-stop, and then back to Deauville just to be with her. I will probably re-visit this film again sometime in the future, but only if it is released with a more substantive set of subtitles. Nothing drives me more nuts than when a media company releases a DVD where bits of dialog or lyrics to songs aren't translated and that happens quite a few times in this film. I would have loved to know what the woman was singing when Jean-Louis and Anne are approaching the train station, or what Anne's husband was singing in those samba lyrics. It may have helped me to understand why she fell in love and why she was still in love with him.

What the color coding means...

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on January 31st, 2013)

Sliders Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

1. RULES OF THE GAME
The Sliders arrive as contestants on a world where the entertainment is government-sanctioned combat between teams - out of which only one team can emerge alive.

My Thoughts:
This is a good start for the third season. Lots of action in this one. Professor Arturo is temporarily blind in this episode. It was fun seeing Rembrandt stuck in the electronic spider web getting ready to be electrocuted and needing a blind Arturo to shoot the robot spiders.

My Rating:

2. DOUBLE CROSS
The local inhabitants of a world where sliding is being developed for malicious intent try to trick Quinn and the Professor into perfecting their technology.

My Thoughts:
This is a decent episode. I got a kick out of the fact that they made Quinn's double a woman in this episode. And the obsessed fan for Rembrandt was alot of fun as well. Then there is the fact that at the end of this episode they put in your mind there is another lost slider out there somewhere that is after them... one that can possibly track their tunnel. I just can't remember if they ever touched back on her or not.

My Rating:

3. ELECTRIC TWISTER ACID TEST
On a world plagued by deadly tornadoes, Quinn helps expose a small dictator whose own guilt about the twisters clouds his mind and his ability to control them.

My Thoughts:
This is a good episode. I defintely enjoyed it. Got a kick ouyt of the kick surfing the small tornado. Looked like fun! There is a couple familiar faces in this episode. First there is Corey Feldman. Then there is Julie Benz (Darla on Buffy & Angel).

My Rating:

4. THE GUARDIAN
On a world exactly like their own, except it spins a teeny bit slower, Quinn has a chance to influence his own childhood.

My Thoughts:
Another episode I liked a lot. This one finds a way to sort of travel through time without actually traveling through time.

My Rating:

5. THE DREAM MASTERS
On a world where some people can enter the dreams of others, Wade falls victim to dream terrorists.

My Thoughts:
Another good one. In this episode we go a bit into the mystic over the scientific. But it does still focus mostly on the scientific.

My Rating:

6. DESERT STORM
On a desert Earth, the Sliders come to the aid of a girl with the ability to find water.

My Thoughts:
This episode is not quite as good as the previous episodes.. but it is still enjoyable. It is another episode that goes into the mystical... even more so then the previous one.

My Rating:

7. DRAGON SLIDE
On a world where Druidism survived and flourished, Quinn is mistaken for a member of a powerfully magic family - the Mallorys

My Thoughts:
Now this one goes deep into the mystical side of things... it almost feels like it forgot it was a Sci-Fi show. While I still enjoyed it... I still prefer the regular Sci-Fi based episodes.

My Rating:

8. THE FIRE WITHIN
Accidentally bringing living fire from one world to another, the Sliders become embroiled in a labor dispute at a chemical factory.

My Thoughts:
This one is more like the original episodes that hooked me on the series so much. Though it is still not as good as many of the other episodes. It is just a little on the slow side.

My Rating:

(From Sliders Marathon on August 25th, 2009)