drawing attention to herself, but Meagan’s obsession with the death of April becomes increasingly more dangerous. Writer-director Ruben Rod- riguez seems uncertain whether he is making a film about a haunt- ing or a demonic possession, and his script is as confused and un- convincing as its lead character. The scares are few and far be- tween and too overly-familiar to have any solid impact (a shadow glimpsed on the wall, a wine glass moving across a table) and the story is fatally compro- mised by having Meagan leave her webcam activated ‘round the clock so as to capture “impor- tant” events such as having a row with her boyfriend Tim (RayMartell Moore). One par- tially effective sequence has Meagan sitting bolt upright in bed and communicating in whispered tones with the dead girl, but, by the time of the re- velatory final act, most viewers will have lost interest. The soli- tary extra in this below-par 1.78:1 release is a trailer.
DERANGED
1974, Kino Lorber, 82m 50s, $19.98 DVD-1, $29.95 BD-A By John Charles
We reviewed Arrow’s UK re- lease of this Canadian horror thriller in VW 180:13 and Kino Lorber is now offering a Region A edition for domestic consum- ers. Utilizing the same attractive and uncut 1080p 1.85:1 MGM master as that earlier release, the Kino disc delivers two commen- tary tracks, both of which improve on the single one Arrow included. Co-director Alan Ormsby talks about the $200,000 project’s his- tory, Tom Savini’s make-up, the sometimes contentious relation- ship he and co-director Jeff Gillen had with uncredited producer/ editor Bob Clark, and the con- siderable qualities Roberts Blos- som brings to his performance as the Ed Gein-inspired psycho- path, Ezra Cobb. Moderator Elijah Drenner (THAT GUY DICK MILLER) does a good job ask- ing relevant questions, getting
Ormsby to talk about his influ- ences, and keeping things focused and moving along. Richard Harland Smith goes solo on a second track, including much information about the ac- tual crimes committed by Gein and how they differ from those shown here, along with the other books and movies inspired by that case. He also provides much more extensive information about the backgrounds and highlights of the various performers’ ca- reers. Most notably in terms of horror film history, Smith offers information about a heretofore undocumented short he saw in 1976 (sandwiched between a flesh-eating double bill of DON’T OPEN THE WINDOW and APART- MENT ON THE 13TH FLOOR) that allegedly depicted real cannibal acts, but was actually footage lifted from the climax of SNUFF. It is a well-researched, planned, and executed commentary that nicely compliments Ormsby and Drenner’s talk.
Producer Tom Karr also dis- cusses the picture in an 18m
Bob Clark’s DERANGED returns to Blu-ray with a new slew of extras.
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