The Last Blu-ray/UHD Blu-ray You Watched (1 Viewer)

[Kent K H]

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A masterpiece.

 

[Kaskade1309]

Agreed, Kent...

 

[Kaskade1309]

 

[Kaskade1309]

 

[Kaskade1309]

 

[Kaskade1309]

 

[Kaskade1309]

Gave this yet another spin to test for playback noise in my Panasonic UB9000; unlike last time, the disc sparked the noise upon spin-up/loading but then eventually settled down...

Guess this is going to be an on again/off again thing.

 

[Kaskade1309]

 

[Kent K H]

This was a weird one, like a cross between Dead Alive and Ted. A man going through the worst time of his life has his childhood stuffed toy come to life. The catch is that it's completely psychotic, like a Tickle-Me Elmo on bath salts and willing to kill everyone and everything it comes in contact with except his owner, up to and including his new love interest. It's full of dodgy special effects, bonkers gore and no performers you've ever heard of, but its odd Brit sensibilities kept it on the right side of the meter for me.

 

[Kaskade1309]

This was a weird one, like a cross between Dead Alive and Ted. A man going through the worst time of his life has his childhood stuffed toy come to life. The catch is that it's completely psychotic, like a Tickle-Me Elmo on bath salts and willing to kill everyone and everything it comes in contact with except his owner, up to and including his new love interest. It's full of dodgy special effects, bonkers gore and no performers you've ever heard of, but its odd Brit sensibilities kept it on the right side of the meter for me.

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[Kaskade1309]

 

[Kaskade1309]

 

[Kent K H]

Watched Synapse's blu ray release of Thriller: A Cruel Picture (aka: They Call Her One Eye), one of the inspirations behind Tarantino's Kill Bill.

I can't say I recommend it, because this movie is rough in more ways than one. With regards to the film, it's about a woman who is assaulted, kidnapped, has an eye gouged out and that's not all. The last third of the film is basically her getting her revenge against a whole lotta people who thoroughly deserve it. It's not an easy watch, even if I ultimately found it a satisfying one.

It's also rough because Synapse's transfer here is pretty damn weak. Now, in a way that's fitting the grindhouse nature of the material, but with Vinegar Syndrome getting access to the production materials for their upcoming 4K release of both the original film (which has hardcore inserts sprinkled throughout because of the popularity of that in its origin country of Sweden in the early 70s) and the R-rated US Cut (included with Synapse's release only as a previously available DVD), I can't see a good reason to tell someone who actually is interested to pick it up when there's a better version coming. The only plus here is that I am a big fan of the original poster art that's used for the cover.

 

[Kaskade1309]

 

[Kaskade1309]

1080p Blu-ray, Disc 2

 

[Kaskade1309]

 

[Kaskade1309]

 

[Kaskade1309]

 

[Kent K H]

Finally cracked open one of the VSAs in my collection, and it was just as odd as that sublabel kind of promises. An extremely time-specific 'take' on Poe's Fall of the House of Usher that ignores everything in the story outside of the name, its "curse," and the crumbling house they live in, it is not surprising this was a direct-to-video release.

That said, boy, do they let Oliver Reed and Donald Pleasance go hog wild in this as the Ushers, holding the fiance of their nephew within their mansion outside of London that is supposed to be ancient, but looks like a Vanity Fair shoot from 1987. At one point, Reed shoves a piece of wedding cake into the mouth of the lead actress, then proceeds to essentially scoop a bunch of it out with his tongue as he makes out with her. Seeing is believing. Pleasance doesn't even show up until the last third or so of the film, but he quickly steals the film with the drill attached to his hand.

 

[Kaskade1309]