DVD Collectors Online

Baron Blood, a review by Jimmy

Title: Baron Blood (1972)

Genre: Horror
Director: Mario Bava
Rating: Unrated
Length: 1h38
Video: Widescreen
Audio: English
Subtitles: None

Stars:
Joseph Cotten
Elke Sommer
Antonio Cantafora
Massimo Girotti
Rada Rassimov

Plot:
An American student's family curse, an ancient Austrian castle of torture and a demonic incantation that resurrects the infamous 16th Century sadist known as 'Baron Blood'. Director Mario Bava returns to his gothic roots -- albeit with a modern day Technicolor twist -- in this indelibly atmospheric thriller that pays tribute to the sumptuous horror classics of the '30s and '40s while delivering the black humor and grisly shocks of the drive-in '70s. Joseph Cotton, Elke Sommer and Massimo Girotti star in one of the most visually haunting films of Bava's later career, now presented in its uncut European Version featuring footage not seen in the original American release.

First thing to say is that this film is a festival of accent and a subtitle track would have been much appreciated. Like the precedent gothic horror film directed by Mario Bava this one is well done. The cinematography is very good (the night scenes are a perfect exemple of it), but it isn't a surprise since the cinematographer is the maestro himself. The story is interesting, but I've found the two protoganists (Elke Sommer & Antonio Cantafora) incredibly stupid to go on with the ceremony two times. We can say congratulation to our two heros for the dead of many innocent because they are two idiots... I agree that Elke Sommer is really annoying (to be generous) when she act frightened. The rest of the cast is ok and even if Joseph Cotten is first billed don't expect to see him on screen a long time (maybe 15 minutes), but he plays quite an important role. Another surprise for me the doctor little girl is played by an uncredited Nicoletta Elmi who is probably one of the best child actor I've seen (I recommand Deep Red if you really want to see her in a much important role).

Another good film even if the end looks a little bit rushed...

Rating :

(From Mario Bava marathon on July 19th, 2009)

Hell Hath No Fury, a review by Jimmy

Title : Hell Hath No Fury (2005)

Overview
Hell Hath No Fury is a balls-out horror anthology that is a bloody and erotic mix of stories in the style of the horror-lit anthologies.

My Impression
Another good Canadian movie (I know I'm partial for our industry). This anthology is center around the revenge theme and for a rare occasion it's women revenge time... The acting in this one is real good, but this isn't a big surprise since the acting talent pool in Vancouver is one of the best in our country thanks to the multiple American TV shows and movies made there. At the beginning the film is confusing since it start with 2 real shorts segment of maybe 5 minutes, but they will became clearer later since they are connected to the others. Of course each of the story aren't at the same quality level, but Prey and Torched are awesome. In Prey a police officer get her revenge on her rapist in a very particular way without being involve directly in it. Torched is a very hard one and not a funny watching at all for a guy. This time it's a nurse who will get her revenge on her unknown rapist, this one is a festival of torture and error. Of course the general theme isn't an appealing one for everyone that's why a little funny time travelling segment is included (nothing complicated or gruesome).

I consider that this one is worthy of an individual purchase that's why I've added this film to my wishlist for listening the commentary and give more money to those guys. They really deserve it.  

Rating :

Sorry it wasn't the good trailer

(From Jimmy's 2009 Horror Marathon on October 4th, 2009)

Tom's Random Reviews, a review by Tom

Title: GTO
Year: 1998
Length: 569 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: Japanese: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: Chinese, English, Other


A fine example of a well-done live action adaption of a manga. Even though a lot of things have changed, it helps to transfer it to a more believable live action TV series. The actors are well-chosen, especially Onizuka.
A lot of the story changes even made it into the anime which otherwise follows the manga story-line more closely.

I like it, when they make adjustment to fit the story better in the frame of the current media but stay close to the spirit of the source material.
This way, even though you know the source material, you can find new stuff to enjoy, but are not put off by it, when they try to stay compulsively close to the source material.
For example, I enjoy the GTO live action series more than the anime. The same goes for Death Note, where I prefer the live action movies to the anime (the manga of course is still better). But in the case of Death Note I think, that someone who doesn't know the manga, will prefer the anime, because there they get more of the taste of the full story. I on the other hand know, what things they have changed and prefer the manga version in those cases. This is why I enjoy the live action version, because there they had the guts to make some drastic changes, which help in their own way to tell the same story in a smaller time-frame.

Here the in my opinion great opening theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdpIijQF6vo

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on October 13th, 2008)