band, Meet Wagon FULL MOON’S GRINDHOUSE COLLECTION:
THE COMPILATIONS (1978–1987) DVD Starring Elvira, John Carradine and Sybil Danning Directed by Ken Dixon Full Moon
After multiple advancements in the ways in which we
discover, share and view movies, it’s easy to see why the once-popular but extremely dated horror compilation videos of the 1980s have taken this long to be reis- sued. Fan support exists within the VHS trading and bootleg communities, but only because these comps hadn’t been released to DVD. They’re that sad kid who couldn’t fit on the bus to the future, remembered by those who were there but few others. Nostalgia, however, can
be powerful. Fans rejoiced at the inclusion of Terror in the Aisles (1984) on the recent Halloween II Blu-ray release, and a similar yearning is what Charles Band is banking on with Full Moon’s Grind- house Collection, a series of reissues from the early di- rect-to-video era, including four compilations that are available on DVD for the first time. Between the trailers and
Island Of Lost Lives BATTLE ROYALE: THE COMPLETE
COLLECTION (2000) Blu-ray/DVD Starring Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda and Taro Yamamoto Written and directed by Kinji Fukasaku Anchor Bay
When Battle Royale premiered at film festivals twelve
years ago, it had the makings of an instant cult classic. Unfortunately, the release coincided with the Columbine high school massacre aftermath, meaning North American distrib- utors weren’t exactly falling all over themselves to buy an over- the-top bloodbath of a movie about 42 high school students chosen by lottery and forced to kill each other off on a deserted island. As predicted, though, the
movie became an iconic horror flick in the ensuing decade, prompting Anchor Bay to finally give Battle Royale its due with this first official North American release – a spectacular four-disc box set, bound like a blood-spat- tered hardcover textbook. Inside, each disc is housed in a cardboard page covered with glossy art and pro- duction stills. Not bad for a disgusting little movie that once seemed destined to only be available as either a bootleg or an import.
RM40 R E I S S U E S And the film itself, based on the book by Koushun
Takami, has aged remarkably well. The concept still feels sprung from a deranged mind deserving of incar- ceration (even by Japanese horror standards), and di- rector Kinji Fukasaku (who was 70 at the time) doesn’t miss a single opportunity to test your gag reflex, inject social satire or resort to giggly slapstick violence. Even the corny teen-love scenes ooze with camp appeal. Both the theatrical and director’s cut are included and
each has merit, depending on whether one’s preference is succinct carnage or narrative clarity. Battle Royale 2 is also part of the package, and while it’s decent, the Aliens-inspired “This Time It’s War” approach never quite works. The disjointed sequel falls far short of its predecessor, likely due to the sudden mid-pro- duction death of Fukasaku, whose son then took over the reins. Unlike all the murky bootlegs
and slapdash Tartan imports, An- chor Bay’s new transfers finally present the films as the glossy pop-art blockbusters they are, and the renewed vibrance of the comic-book visuals only enhances the film’s heightened ultra-violent tone. Special features include a thorough 50-minute making-of documentary, several candid fea- turettes on various aspects of pro-
duction, and a collection of trailers. All of it has appeared on previous releases, but nothing is missing and the presentation has never been prettier. This in- stantly qualifies as the definitive Battle Royale set.
PHIL BROWN
clips, these aptly titled discs feature moments created by Band and direc- tor Ken Dixon, wherein a horror celeb addresses the audience directly. In The Best of Sex and Violence (1981), John Carradine tells us how crappy he thought the preceding clip was. Statuesque cult icon Sybil Danning strips and reads from cue cards in Famous T&A (1982). Elvira hosts Film Gore (1983), delivering hor- ror puns stretched so far, they could only have been writ- ten by Forrest J Ackerman (they were). The host-free exception is Zombiethon (1986), featuring girls being chased by zombies into a movie theatre full of even more zombies. Despite such dated cheesiness, the comps have retained a kind of charm. Though the revival now
feels a bit old, Band’s own attempt to qualify these films as “grindhouse” misses an opportunity to jump on the ’80s retro train. Given his in- volvement with seminal home entertainment labels Wizard (original distributors of many titles in the set), Media, Cult Entertainment and Empire Video, Band should accept his crown as rightful Prince of the VHS era over being a footnote in ’70s ex- ploitation. Then again, trying to teach marketing to the creator of ten Puppet Master films is fruitless.
TAL ZIMERMAN
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