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This double feature offers two inspired pairings of shockmeister Roger Corman and the quintessentially sinister Vincent Price in moody adaptations of the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe.In THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, hopeful Phillip (Mark Damon) rides up to the crumbling Usher estate to pick up his betrothed, Madeline (Myrna Fahey), and is coldly received by her brother, Roderick (Price). A most unwilling host, Roderick suffers from morbid acuteness of the senses and is convinced their family lineage--and the very house itself--is cursed by the evil deeds of their forebears. He is sworn to do everything in his power to keep his sister from leaving with Phillip--even burying her alive--to stop her from continuing their damned lineage. King of the Bs Corman got permission from his producers to make this, his first film in color and with a recognizable star, for the same price as two of his usual black-and-white films. The result was a smash hit with critics and audiences, and Corman made seven more. This is still one of the best, with a comparatively restrained performance by Price, good set design and photography, and eerie music by the legendary Les Baxter.THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1961) takes place in 16th-century Spain with Francis Bonnard (John Kerr) visiting the gloomy castle of his late sister's husband, Nicholas (Price), in order to discern the reason for her death. It seems Nicholas is terrified that wife Elizabeth (Barbara Steele) is not really dead and that her spirit wanders the halls at night. It turns out Nicholas' father was a feared leader of the Spanish Inquisition, and as a child he saw him torture his mother and then bury her alive. He's now convinced Elizabeth has suffered a similar fate, even though his doctor (Antony Carbone) disagrees. Meanwhile, his father's torture chamber is still down in the basement, just waiting to get back into service. There are twisted twists and gristly surprises aplenty in this second of the Poe a
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Nicolas Cage plays Peter Loew, a sleazy literary agent who prowls the bars in the evening looking for some action. One night he hooks up with Jennifer Beals, and in the course of their relations, she bites him on the neck. When he wakes up the next morning, Peter doesn't feel quite right. He is irritable, and has a hard time dealing with life at the literary agency, where his secretary takes the brunt of his ire. Suddenly, it dawns on Peter that he was bitten by a vampire, so he goes out and buys a set of real fangs. However, mere plot exposition can't begin to get at what makes this movie so incredible. Well, the film itself isn't really incredible, it's Cage's performance. Here, it seems, he was given free rein to act like a total madman. There is absolutely no precedent for this performance anywhere in film history, and Cage is a wonder to watch. Though this film is usually only mentioned when people want to talk about how Cage ate a live cockroach once because he insisted on absolute realism, his performance here dwarfs everything else he's ever done. The movie might be rather silly, what with its rather pretentious device of using Peter's transformation into a vampire as a metaphor for his other life as a parasitic literary agent and lady-killer, but Cage overacts so stunningly that you can't take your eyes off the film for a second.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseAnamorphic Widescreen - 1.85Single Side - Dual LayerAdditional Release Material: Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer Audio Commentary - 1. Nicolas Cage - Star
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The low-budget Italian shockfest EVILENKO dramatizes the true story of Russian serial killer A.R. Cikatilo (chillingly portrayed by Malcolm McDowell, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE), known as
the monster of Rostov
for killing and eating over 50 women and children in 1980s Communist Russia. Marton Csokas costars as the police detective assigned to track down the deranged killer, while David Lynch`s regular composer, Angelo Badalamenti, provides an appropriately eerie film score.
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The second directorial effort from Irish director Neil Jordan (THE CRYING GAME), THE COMPANY OF WOLVES is a psychologically themed retelling of Little Red Riding Hood from a Freudian and slightly feminist angle. Angela Lansbury is Grandma, who tells her granddaughter strange stories of handsome yet heavily eyebrowed strange men, spouses who disappear during the full moon, and storks and eggs. Also starring David Warner (TIME AFTER TIME, TIME BANDITS) and Stephen Rea (THE CRYING GAME).DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseWidescreenAdditional Release Material: Trailer - 1. Original TheatricalInteractive Features: Scene Access Interactive MenusText/Photo Galleries Photo Gallery
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James Hong (BLADE RUNNER) co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in this horror film as Dr. Elson Po, a mysterious winemaker whose wines are coveted for their supposedly age reducing qualities. Dr. Po, who has kept himself alive for hundreds of years with the help of a special potion, now finds that his concoction is failing him. Desperate to find a new fountain of youth, Dr. Po brings a group of young actresses to his secluded island under the pretenses that he is filming a movie. However, when the girls discover the undead bodies buried in Dr. Po's vineyard and some of their colleagues begin disappearing, they begin to realize what Dr. Po has in store for them.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseAnamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1Audio: Mono - EnglishAdditional Release Material: Theatrical TrailerInteractive Features: Scene Access
Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005.
For personal use only.
All rights reserved.