Movie Review: "Farm/Ominous/Evidence of a Haunting/Meadowoods/Deadrise" (2015: Echo Bridge/Green Apple/Midnight Releasing/Brain Damage/Monterey/Brauer)

...OK!! OK!! I admit it. I am an absolute sucker for those Echo Bridge multi-movie bundles. Yes, those bargain-bin, mish-mash cult film collections, often butting the most familiar, up against the most obscure. A treasure-trove of long-time movie favorites, with preferred-to-be-forgotten cinematic fumbles. Big-budgeted matter-of-facts, mated with low-budget, independents oddities. Cheezy, no name direct-to-video fodder...and big starring, director-notable okie-dokes. The 'dumping grounds' for lesser studio efforts and public domain classics. The campy, crazy and nutty stuff, originally released singularly, from distributors like Midnight Releasing, Full Moon Pictures, The Asylum, Brain Damage Films, Alliance Releasing, York, and countless others...

...a buck or two'll typically get ya' four or five of these films, laid out on one disc...four or five bucks'll get ya' ten of 'em, and so on. Most of the film titles on the smaller bundles will usually all be found on the 'step up to eight-or-ten' film' collections, along side one or two rarities. And most of those will be found on the 15-to-20-film collections, along side even more obscurities. And often, it genuinely becomes worth the slight extra cost to double dip on a bunch of others, which might be sitting on one's video shelf, in one previously purchased collection, to get that singularly unique and obscure rarity, which might be only available on that attention drawing second collection (...heck, I remember collectors going all ga-ga over the unceremoniously released, under-the-radar editions of the bloody, 1980 'Bigfoot' horror obscurity, "Night of the Demon", as well as the under-appreciated 1983 slasher entry, "Curtains" in this venue, before a couple of the major cult film distributors picked them up, 'legitimately' and the allure of collectible 'special features' editions)...

Movie Review: Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989, Blu Ray)

Directed by Kazuki Ohmori
Starring Kunihiko Mitamura, Yoshiko Tanaka and Masanobu Takashima
Run Time: 104 minutes

Dr. Shiragami has been genetically engineering a form of indestructible plant life using a rare supply of Godzilla cells. This experiment has brought a strange new form of plant life into existence: Biollante, massive yet peaceful in every way.....until Godzilla returns once again to wreak havoc upon Japan. It is only then that something within Biollante stirs and the plant must fight to save her creator and the land she loves. It’s the super-beast Battle of the Century when Godzilla and Biollante come face-to-face in an explosive fight to the finish.

The Movie Burrito: Uncle Farts' Dirty Movie Theater, Savage Island, Bigfoot, Pound of Flesh & The Prophecy

In this edition of Cinema Head Cheese’s The Movie Burrito we’ve packed in a high quantity of goodness that's sure tickle your fancy. We take a look at five very different titles that range from soft-core filth with Uncle Farts’ Dirty Movie Theater, the Linda Blair revenge picture Savage Island, John Carradine hamming it up in the sasquatch flick Bigfoot, Malcolm McDowell as a professor/pimp in Pound of Flesh and finally the criminally underrated The Prophecy starring (a pimp in his own sense) Christopher Walken.

Independent Entertainment is doing a similar compilation route that sister label After Hours Cinema (All under Alternative Cinema) has found useful in packaging adult titles, only the compilation that I’m speaking of,  Uncle Farts Dirty Movie Theater is primarily soft-core adult fare. It's not a bad thing though, as this marathon collection of sleaze does have its growl towel soaking moments. Four films are included on this third edition of the series: Adultery for Fun and Profit, Involuntary Bird, She'll Do Alright and First Time.

Movie Review: Mother's Boys (1994)

Directed by Yves Simoneau



Reviewed by Greg Goodsell

With her tight, angry mouth, steely eyes, pointed, defiant chin and somewhat coltish manner there was no question that Jamie Lee Curtis could be anything less but the Final Girl. Curtis, the daughter of Janet Leigh would have never succumbed as easily to Norman Bates in the shower. One imagines Jamie pulling the knife out of Norman’s hand, penning his arm behind his back, forcing him to the bathroom floor and yelling “dressed just for me, huh?”

Buy Mother's Boys on DVD

It was only a matter of time before producers would consider cast Jamie as the full-on villainess in her own horror feature, and Mother’s Boys is the only film to treat her as such. Sadly, Curtis only appears in film projects sporadically today, doing chiefly voices for animated films. In was only in this stray offering did Jamie was able to shine malignantly as an ABJECT BITCH.

Movie Review: Supercop/Twin Dragons and Beer League/The Big White

Blu-Ray Bargains

If you're like me you're always in search for the best bargain when it comes to buying Blu-Rays and DVDs. Echo Bridge is one of the biggest companies dealing with affordable DVDs and Blu-ray. They've been doing numerous combo packs and a couple Blu-Rays of note that you can grab without cracking $25 dollar are the double feature discs, Supercop/ Twin Dragons and Artie Lange's Beer League/ Big White. That's right you get four movies, one with a double-bill starring Jackie Chan, a man who's taken more blows to the face than any human on earth and another with Artie Lange and Robin Williams, two men that have put more blow in their face than anybody on earth.

Supercop and Twin Dragons are worth a purchase, especially if you're a Chan nut, but don't except brand-new transfers as these are more comparable to the DVD incarnations. The big problem here though is that they're both plopped onto one Blu-ray disc instead of separately. The transfers look ok but no where near Blu-Ray level quality. Amazingly, Artie Lange's Beer League and The Big White look very good. The colors pop nicely and clarity is up to par with Blu-Rays from the studios. Beer League also is loaded with extras. Overall, both are worth grabbing if you're on a budget and not terribly crazy about whether the transfers are perfect.

Movie Review: Hellraiser: Bloodline and Hellraiser: Inferno (1996, 2000 Blu-ray)

The Echo Bridge Blu-ray train continues to roll here at the Cheese. Today, we take a look at another double-feature pack from the Miramax/Dimension film catalog, Hellraiser: Bloodline and Hellraiser: Inferno. One of my absolute favorite directors, Alan Smithee, made what I think is the second best sequel in the Hellraiser franchise, Hellraiser:Bloodline. I've always dug Smithee's work. Hellraiser: Bloodline is high on the list though, right up there with his film adaption to Frank Herbert's, Dune. All kidding aside, if you watch and study film a little bit you probably already know when a filmmaker thinks their movie is ass they'll use the name Alan Smithee or Uwe Boll.

Buy Hellraiser: Bloodline / Hellraiser: Inferno (Miramax Double Feature) [Blu-ray]

Movie Review: Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later - Double Feature (Blu-ray)

About a month or so ago there came news that Echo Bridge Entertainment was distributing certain Dimension Films titles. Two of those titles, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers and Halloween: H20 have been bundled up into a double feature release for the Blu-ray market. Before I go too much further in my review of the disc I'd like to warn anyone who has not seen Halloween H20: 20 Years Later that there is a spoiler involving LL Cool J. It's tiny, but a spoiler nonetheless. Now off to Haddonfield!

Buy Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers / Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (Miramax Double Feature) [Blu-ray]

For the most part I really think both films are "middle of the pack" Halloween films. Neither are as bad as Rob Zombie's trash, but neither are as entertaining as the original, part II or Season of the Witch. In "Curse", Tommy Doyle (Paul Rudd) is a Michael Myers-aholic who really wants to track down the legendary killer from Haddonfield. Dr Loomis (Donald Pleasence) is still kickin' but he's retired.. that is until the possibility of Michael stalking again becomes a reality.

Final Week! From Dusk Till Dawn Spread the Cheese Contest!

Thanks to Echo Bridge Entertainment, we are going to have a new contest featuring the new DVD release of the entire From Dusk Till Dawn trilogy and a bonus documentary on the original film called Full-Tilt Boogie.

One winner will win the set plus DVD copies of Dismal and Ninjas vs. Vampires.

Second and third prize will win Cinema Head Cheese prize packs.

Here's How to Enter:

All you need to do is spread the word about Cinema Head Cheese on Facebook and Twitter. Like and follow us at http://facebook.com/cinemaheadcheese and @CinHeadCheese. Tell your friends about CHC and tag us in your posts. With every tag, you will be automatically entered in the drawing for all the goodies. You can enter once per day until 11:59pm PST on May 10. That's a possibility of 21 entries, which helps your chances.

Winners will be chosen by random drawing and announced on May 15 on CHC: The Podcast! as well as our site, Facebook and Twitter pages.

So, what are you waiting for? Get to work!

Movie Review: The Midnight Horror Collection - Puppet Master

For the past 35 years, producer, director and writer, Charles Band, has etched his way gradually into B-movie history. The Puppet Master series, - by itself - has given Band a consistent franchise, spawning similar films aimed at Band's audience (Dollman, Demonic Toys ,Gingerdead Man, Shrunken Heads). It still all leads back to the 1989 classic, Puppet Master. After recently releasing a Blu-Ray for the original film, in addition to a new Puppet Master film titled, Puppet Master: Axis Of Evil - Full Moon, in conjunction with Echo Bridge Entertainment are releasing some of the older - more popular - catalog titles. The first of which being, The Midnight Horror Collection: Puppet Master – soon to be issued in a convenient budget pack.

BUY THE PUPPET MASTER TRILOGY ON DVD

If you’re not already initiated with the Puppet Master story, it involves the plight of Andre Toulon (William Hickey) and his very loyal but deadly puppets. In the first film, Andre decides to put a bullet in his brain while confined in his hotel room by the sea - after discovering he's being stalked by some gentleman in trench coats. This doesn't go very well with his puppets. It makes them pretty angry actually. Now anyone entering the hotel - including a band of quirky psychics - has Andre Toulon's blood on their hands, in the eyes of the puppets.