DVD Tuesday: Monster Squad, Blood: The Last Vampire, My Bloody Valentine, Angels and Demons

This Week On Blu-Ray

Angels & Demons (2009)
Directed by: Ron Howard
Starring: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgard, Pierfrancesco Favino, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Thure Lindhardt, David Pasquesi
If the devil is in the details, there’s a lot of wicked fun in Angels & Demons, the sequel (originally a prequel) to The Da Vinci Code. Director Ron Howard delivers edge-of-your-pew thrills all over the Vatican, the City of Rome, and the deepest, dankest catacombs. Tom Hanks is dependably watchable in his reprised role as Professor Robert Langdon, summoned urgently to Rome on a matter of utmost urgency–which happens to coincide with the death of the Pope, meaning the Vatican is teeming with cardinals and Rome is teeming with the faithful. A religious offshoot group, calling themselves the Illuminati, which protested the Catholic Church’s prosecution of scientists 400 years ago, has resurfaced and is making extreme, and gruesome, terrorist demands. The film zooms around the city, as Langdon follows clues embedded in art, architecture, and the very bone structure of the Vatican. The cast is terrific, including Ewan McGregor, who is memorable as a young protégé of the late pontiff, and who seems to challenge the common wisdom of the Conclave just by being 40 years younger than his fellows when he lectures for church reform. Stellan Skarsgard is excellent as a gruff commander of the Swiss Guard, who may or may not have thrown in with the Illuminati. But the real star of the film is Rome, and its High Church gorgeousness, with lush cinematography by Salvatore Totino, who renders the real sky above the Vatican, in a cataclysmic event, with the detail and majesty of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. –A.T. Hurley

The Monster Squad (20th Anniversary Edition) (1987)
Directed by: Fred Dekker
Starring: Andre Gower, Robby Kiger, Stephen Macht, Duncan Regehr, Tom Noonan, Brent Chalem, Ryan Lambert, Ashley Bank, Michael Faustino, Mary Ellen Trainor
Young kids form a club that is devoted to monsters, but soon get more than they bargained for when Count Dracula adjourns to Earth, accompanied by Frankenstein’s Monster, the Wolfman, the Mummy, and the Gillman. The uglies are in search of a powerful amulet that will grant them power to rule the world. Our heroes – the Monster Squad are the only ones daring to stand in their way.

Blood: The Last Vampire (2000)
Directed by: Hiroyuki Kitakubo
At the Yokota Air Force base in Japan, a nervous American military is on the brink of the Vietnam War. But a greater threat exists within the walls of the heavily guarded compound: Vampires. A team of top-secret undercover agents dispatches a mysterious young woman to destroy them…she is the last remaining original. Featuring brilliant character designs, top-notch animation and a stunning musical score, “Blood: The Last Vampire” is a breakthrough in digital filmmaking, taking anime to a whole new level.

My Bloody Valentine (Special Edition) (1981)
Directed by: George Mihalka
Starring: Neil Affleck, Cynthia Dale, Paul Kelman, Lori Hallier, Keith Knight, Alf Humphreys, Helene Udy, Rob Stein, Thomas Kovacs
Twenty years after a Valentine’s Day tragedy, a small town prepares for its annual holiday dance. When a box of candy arrives containing an eerie warning and a blood-soaked heart, the townsfolk realize that this Valentine’s Day romance is as good as dead…and so are they!

This Week On DVD

Slaughtered Vomit Dolls (2006)
Directed by: Lucifer Valentine
Starring: Ameara Lavey, Pig Lizzy, Maja Lee
What happens to a woman when she is abused by her parents, becomes a runaway at the tender age of 14, is molested by a local priest who takes her in and is then used and abused by nearly everyone she comes into contact with? For Angela Aberdeen the answer is to turn away from the human race and all earthly reality by making a sacred pact with Satan. After enlisting his protection in return for her eternal soul, her first act is to burn down the priest s church as he lays passed out drunk on the floor. She then flees to the city where she develops a horrible addiction to alcohol and drugs. Angela quickly spirals downward in her journal to Hell. Stripping turns to pornography and prostitution and as her deadly addictions tear her body apart, she realizes that even Satan has seemingly forsaken her. Slaughtered Vomit Dolls is the opening film of the infamous Vomit Gore Trilogy directed by Lucifer Valentine. Includes commentary with director and star plus Making of the Film and The History of Vomit Gore

Philosophy of a Knife Limited Edition (2008)
Directed by: Andrey Iskanov
Starring: Yukari Fujimoto, Yumiko Fujiwara, Svyatoslav Iliyasov, Andrey Iskanov, Masaki Kitagava, Tatyana Kopeykina, Vladimir Kucherenko, Veronika Leonova
The true history of Japanese Unit 731, from its beginnings in the 1930′s to its demise in 1945, and the subsequent trials in Khabarovsk, USSR, of many of the Japanese doctors from Unit 731. The facts are told, and previously unknown evidence is revealed by an eyewitness to these events, former doctor and military translator, Anatoly Protasov. Part documentary and part feature, the story is shown from the perspective of a young Japanese nurse who witnessed many of horrors, and a young Japanese officer who is torn between his sincere convictions that he is serving the greater purpose, and the deep sympathy he feels for an imprisoned Russian girl. His life is a living hell as he’s compelled to carry out atrocious experiments on the other prisoners, using them as guinea pigs in this shocking tale of mankind’s barbarity. Philosophy of a Knife is truly one of the most violent, brutal and harrowing movies ever made. Special Edition includes: Making of Documentary, A Glimpse of Hell (Uncut version of the morgue sequence), Director Introduction, Interview with Actress Manoush, Original Soundtrack, Deleted Scenes, Dead Before Born Music Video, Forgive Me Music Video, Still Gallery, Booklet with Intro by Scott Gabbey.

Ichi 1 (2003)
Directed by: Masato Tanno
Starring: Nao Omori, Teah, Chihara Junia, Chisato Amate, Yuki Oikawa, Eiki Kitamura, Kazuhiro Mashiko
Based on the original manga, Ichi-1 is the prequel to Takashi Miike s Ichi the Killer. Nao Omori stars as Shiro Ishi (the future Ichi) and Teah is Dai, the best fighter at the local high school. Whenever Dai gets into a fight, Ichi is watching nearby, enjoying the brutality. Dai confronts him but Ichi cannot tear himself away from the bloodshed. It is as though he feeds on the violence. Everywhere Ichi goes he is considered a weakling and is bullied, taunted and made fun of. Even the younger kids from his karate class show him no respect, but Ichi refuses to fight back. However, on a fateful summer s day, Ichi is pushed too far by a group of his fellow students. The rage inside him is finally unleashed and he flies into a violent fury. The maniacal psyche that dwells beneath the surface is revealed in all its horror and his tormentors pay the ultimate price.

(2009)
Angels & Demons (Single-Disc Theatrical Edition)
Directed by: Ron Howard
Starring: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgard, Pierfrancesco Favino, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Thure Lindhardt, David Pasquesi
The DVD edition of Angels and Demons.