1964's "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" was something of a throwaway production, generated to make some money on the children's matinee circuit, giving young audiences a holiday tale at the local theater while their parents sought peace and quiet elsewhere. It wasn't meant to stand the test of time, but here we are in 2024, and the film is now enjoying its second Blu-ray release. Some may assign nostalgia and repeated television airings of the movie as the primary force behind the title's amazing pop culture endurance, but I believe credit belongs to movie riffing, with a classic 1991 episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" helping to bring the feature to a wider audience (Cinematic Titanic and Rifftrax also had their way with the picture). The ridiculousness of "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" makes the offering an easy target for mockery, and it's certainly more of a challenge to sit through the endeavor without the added laughs, as the low-budget fantasy and strange hostility of the effort is glacially paced and horrifically overacted. Sure, it's made for kids, but a little extra pep and more inventive writing certainly doesn't hurt. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

As he slowly backs away from an acting career, Viggo Mortensen has found his way behind the camera. In 2020, there was his work on "Falling," a tough but meaningful examination of relationships put under the weight of dementia. For "The Dead Don't Hurt," Mortensen pursues a western, also scripting this story of a partnership between decent people as it goes through trials of trust, separation, and comfort. This isn't an Eastwood-ian take on revenge, though aggression does play a part in the tale, with Mortensen much more interested in the development of characters as they deal with the joys and misery of life, especially during a time of national unrest. "The Dead Don't Hurt" is atmospheric and attentive to emotional expression, lacking a brisk pace. The reward for such patience is another deeply felt picture from Mortensen, who delivers a film of grace and personality, offering a few genre kicks between long stretches of behavioral examination. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It’s difficult to tell what kind of mood screenwriter Sean Farley is going for in “Neighborhood Watch.” The story concerns two mentally ill people teaming up to follow clues leading to a potential kidnapping, facing a world that doesn’t have the time or patience to keep up with their troubled ways. There are elements of black comedy in the picture, but also a sense of solemnity as the reality of life for these men is repeatedly returned to. Director Duncan Skiles (“The Clovehitch Killer”) also maintains a weird tonality for the feature, and he elects to go slow-burn with its mysteries and discoveries. “Neighborhood Watch” isn’t a consistent viewing experience, but there’s clearly potential in the premise, giving the offering a few sequences of suspense the rest of the movie doesn’t know what to do with. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Director David F. Sandberg began his career in horror. He made his debut with 2016’s “Lights Out,” and continued his career ascent in 2017’s “Annabelle: Creation.” And then there was a move to superhero cinema, eking out a hit in 2019’s “Shazam,” only to stumble mightily with a widely ignored 2023 sequel. Sandberg returns to low-budget genre filmmaking with “Until Dawn,” which is an adaptation of a 2015 video game that was known for its unique interactivity. Such inviting gameplay is obviously missing from the big screen version, which hopes to celebrate the world of fright films without the very thing that made the release special. It’s a strange choice to transform “Until Dawn” into a movie, and the endeavor isn’t exactly out for thrills as screenwriters Blair Butler and Gary Dauberman are largely unwilling to crank up the excitement and chills for the mostly lethargic picture. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Gareth Evans hasn’t released a film since 2018’s “Apostle,” and there’s a good reason for that. The director of “The Raid” and its sequel has been busy making “Havoc,” which began production in 2021 and was only recently completed, hitting the usual roadblocks in reshoot and strike scheduling. The movie is finally finished…well, sort of. One doesn’t sit down with the endeavor to enjoy a richly scripted (Evans also collects a writing credit) study of personal and professional corruption in the big city, examining all the trouble coming for a corrupt cop who’s suddenly trapped in the middle of a major crime world mess. The offering is more interested in becoming an adrenaline shot of action cinema, transforming into Evans’s tribute to Hong Kong bloodbaths of the 1990s. Expectations for an engrossing understanding of character are not met, but the feature is certainly crazy when serving up ferocious fights and gunplay, which may be enough for some viewers. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Accountant” was released in 2016. The film did so-so business, failing to stir up much interest from critics and audiences. Clearly, someone, somewhere made a little money, inspiring the creation of “The Accountant 2,” which arrives in theaters a whopping nine years after the release of the first movie. Writer Bill Dubuque returns to continue the journey for lead character Christian Wolff, tasked with making him softer for the follow-up, which explores family ties and concern for children as the baddies are involved in a human trafficking ring. Director Gavin O’Connor also signs up for a continuation (he’s only made one other feature, “The Way Back,” since 2016), and while “The Accountant 2” is meant to be a big screen inspection of askew heroism and investigation, the helmer only really crafts an episode of television with the picture. With very little action and routine emotionality, a revisit to “Accountant” country doesn’t have much excitement or drama to offer. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I’m not sure it’s commonly known that the grand 1994 actioner “Speed” is actually something of a remake, taking its concept and sense of urgency from 1975’s “The Bullet Train,” which first presented the idea of a bomb threat on a moving vehicle that can’t slow down. And now there’s “Bullet Train Explosion,” another reworking of “The Bullet Train,” reviving the central crisis while also striving to be a sequel to the original offering. Director Shinji Higuchi moves from giant threats in “Shin Godzilla” and “Shin Ultraman” to a speedier level of danger, overseeing the disaster movie elements of “Bullet Train Explosion,” which endeavors to become an epic study of survival and shame. It’s a long journey (137 minutes), and the picture doesn’t earn that run time, but Higuchi has some clarity when it comes to near-misses and assorted beats of suspense. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Puppetry appears the be a lost artform when it comes to film productions these days, but writer/director Isaiah Saxton is looking to reclaim a little magic in “The Legend of Ochi,” which features the work of puppeteers striving to bring a collection of creatures to life. It’s Jim Henson-esque in execution, but the picture isn’t anywhere close to the tone of such classics as “Labyrinth” and “The Dark Crystal.” Saxton’s endeavor mostly resembles a Wes Anderson-directed remake of “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” remaining insanely artful but distant with the creature feature. “The Legend of Ochi” is eye candy, with a delightful appreciation of fantasy and adventure, but the helmer’s restraint when it comes to emotional content isn’t always welcome, as a tale of family ties and connection tries to break out, only to be shut down by Saxton’s insistence on remaining at arm’s length from anything potentially heartwarming. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“On Swift Horses” is an adaptation of a 2019 novel by author Shannon Pufahl, and it doesn’t seem like an easy book to bring to the big screen. There’s a tangle of characters to follow, with most in possession of dual lives, aching to achieve a bit of clarity in impossibly clouded living situations. There’s addiction and danger, along with plenty of forbidden attraction, putting screenwriter Bryce Kass to work managing a lot of complicated feelings and detours. Director Daniel Minahan (a television vet) attempts to make some cinematic poetry out of the tale, and while the feature is carefully crafted, it’s not particularly gripping, even with so much going on. “On Swift Horses” slowly goes about its business, picking up on feelings and desires, but it also remains frustratingly flat, as the helmer can’t tap into passions that drive these personalities, forgoing intensity to make something contemplative, but there’s just not all that much to consider. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Alto Knights” was released just last month, and attempted to offer viewers immersion into mob life. Instead of precise writing, rich characters, and fine performances, the feature provided a mess of events and dialogue exchanges, almost reaching a point of parody. And now here’s “Mob Cops,” which makes a similar attempt to generate a world of tough guys and their problems, once again throwing everything at the audience without any care for dramatic connection and scene tension. Screenwriter Kosta Kondilopoulos traces over the “Goodfellas” template for the picture, which follows the lives of crooked cops, good cops, and the mafia goons they interact with. There’s nothing in “Mob Cops” that hasn’t been done in other, better movies, and director/star Danny A. Abeckaser doesn’t offer any sense of style or much clarity to the cluster of names and faces presented here, which makes for a miserable viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

A summer camp setting and horror. It’s a combination that’s created a lot of memorable genre entertainment over the last 45 years, inspiring filmmakers to keep returning to the blend of innocence and aggression to support their low-budget endeavors. Co-writers/co-directors Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk try their luck with slasher cinema in “Hell of a Summer,” bringing a new generation into the woods for a survival challenge, only this round is a bit more comedic than I’m sure many viewers will expect. In fact, cheekiness tends to dominate the offering, as Wolfhard and Bryk maintain a weird distance from frights in their scary movie, which is loosely scripted, not terribly interested in being anything more than a mild goof. “Hell of a Summer” (shot three years ago) has the ingredients for at least a passable slaughterama, but there’s no dominating nightmare to follow in the picture, which is inspired by serious horror features. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I don't believe anyone was more shocked by the success of 1980's "The Blue Lagoon" than the very people who made the picture. A small feature aimed at a teenage audience, "The Blue Lagoon" managed to attract all demographics with its depiction of island survival and sexual awakening, becoming a phenomenon and the ninth highest-grossing release of the year (sandwiched between "Smokey and the Bandit II" and "The Blues Brothers"). The stars of the endeavor, Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins, also became media sensations, encouraging the creation of a devoted fanbase. Obviously, other producers weren't going to miss a chance to cash-in on something so red-hot, paving the way to the creation of 1982's "Paradise," which once again pairs a curly-haired young man and a straight-haired young woman, capturing their trials and offerings of nudity while exploring a little corner of the world on their own. Writer/director Stuart Gillard ("Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III," "WarGames: The Dead Code") is under strict orders to stay close to the highlights of the 1980 effort, also laboring to expand the adventure elements of the plot. He's also greatly in love with supporting turns from chimpanzees, representing one of several puzzling creative choices in this ineffective knock off, which has a great deal of difficulty trying to get through a simple study of sexploitation and nature's ways. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When "Flashdance" was released in 1983, expectations for the feature were tempered. It was a highly stylized offering of dance and music aimed at a younger audience, using MTV-style visuals of the day to deliver a basic story of determination and romance. While it debuted second at the box office during its release weekend (unable to match the Chuck Norris-starring actioner, "Lone Wolf McQuade"), "Flashdance" found its footing soon after, topping the charts for the next three weeks, also launching a wildly successful soundtrack to keep the "Feelin'" going for the rest of the year. It's only natural that other producers wanted in on the action, resulting in a few knock offs, including 1984's "Heavenly Bodies" (released in the U.S. in 1985), which trades the steel industry and glossy cinematography for the world of aerobics, also trying to ride a fitness trend to monetary glory. The gods of instant profitability weren't kind to "Heavenly Bodies" (which opened in ninth place on the box office chart, only to plunge 90% in its second week) but there's a decently entertaining picture to enjoy here. Co-writer/director Lawrence Dane goes simple with the endeavor, supplying enough musical moments and earnest character actions to support the viewing experience. It's not a rousing study of fortitude, but the effort has a certain spark, greatly enhanced by star Cynthia Dale's heroic commitment to every moment of her performance. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

There was a frenzy for the rights to turn author Sidney Sheldon's 1977 novel, "Bloodline," into a movie. Paramount Pictures paid big bucks to secure their chance to bring the book's sprawling narrative to the screen, also embracing an occasion to cast the endeavor with a range of accomplished stars, including participation from Audrey Hepburn, who, at this point in her career, showed very little interest in thespian opportunities. Perhaps her instincts were dulled at this point in her life, as she accepts the lead role in a feature that's essentially a mess, though one offering fine technical achievements and a strange commitment from the cast and crew to make something that looks good, but most certainly isn't. "Bloodline" is corporate drama, lurid sexploitation, a whodunit, a love story, and examines the difficulties of family ties. It's everything but ends up mostly nothing, as whatever director Terence Young (who brought the James Bond series up to speed with "Dr. No," "From Russia with Love," and "Thunderball") originally wanted from the offering is torn to shreds by harsh editing. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1976's "Through the Looking Glass" is the rare adult film that holds little interest in titillating its audience. It's more of a horror picture with occasional carnal activity, finding director Jonas Middelton working to avoid heat as much as possible while examining the gradual disintegration of a woman who's been subjected to violations her entire life, newly tempted to be imprisoned by them. The helmer goes for a surreal journey into darkness, which is interesting in a scholarly sense, watching the endeavor choose grimness in a genre that's mostly wary of bumming out viewers. "Through the Looking Glass" retains value as a bold offering of artful moviemaking and risky tonality. What hurts the effort immensely is its glacial pace, as Middleton also mistakes slowness for mood, crafting a feature that's perfectly content to put itself into park, generating a frustrating viewing experience. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Emilie Blichfeldt makes her feature-length filmmaking debut with “The Ugly Stepsister,” and she proves to be a formidable talent. It’s one thing to utilize the tale of “Cinderella” to inspire a new take on a very old story, but Blichfeldt delivers an original vision for the effort, going the body horror route during this examination of mental illness and fairy tale fixation. The picture is incredibly graphic, but also beguiling as the helmer pieces together the beauty of moviemaking while inspecting a slow unraveling of the eponymous character. “The Ugly Stepsister” is an exceptional presentation of disturbing behavior, and it does something wild with the known tale of romantic rescue, offering exhilarating darkness and prime behavioral displays. It’s extremity done superbly by the production, playing with magic and horror as it endeavors to take “Cinderella” in many surprising directions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

After making his directorial debut with the low-budget drama “Fruitvale Station,” Ryan Coogler went into franchise mode, taking on the Hollywood machine. He refreshed the relevancy of the “Rocky” franchise in 2015’s “Creed,” and brought deep cultural textures to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2018’s “Black Panther” and its 2022 sequel, “Wakanda Forever.” Coogler isn’t ready to give his big budgets up, but he keeps away from comic books and sequels in “Sinners,” also claiming a screenplay credit on a highly unusual genre picture that’s almost uninterested in delivering the trashy goods this kind of entertainment is known for. It’s a riff on “From Dusk Till Dawn,” but sold through the helmer’s attention to musical and character detail, saving vampire action for short moments in the endeavor’s final act. “Sinners” remains assured work, emerging with a vision and a rhythm that’s thrilling at times, while the cast is sensational for the most part, creating layered people coming to the realization they’re involved in a monstrous nightmare. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 2022, writer/director David Cronenberg returned from a lengthy professional break with “Crimes of the Future.” The feature played to his strengths as a creepy, crawling study of bodily mysteries and intense psychological issues. It wasn’t a rousing sit, but it did the trick, putting Cronenberg back on display with another original vision. The helmer quickly rebounds with “The Shrouds,” remaining true to his cinematic fixations with a picture that’s about obsession, this time examining the reverberations of death and the quest of some to hold on to people and ideas for as long as possible, potentially to a point of madness. Cronenberg delivers something familiar for his fans, and there are a lot of intriguing ideas in the material, which oversees the complexity of relationships for a character receiving a clearer view of his own world. “The Shrouds” doesn’t win with pace, as the offering could use a sharper edit, but the strangeness of the material is mostly inviting, embarking on a bizarre mystery that keeps up with Cronenberg-ian moods. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Wedding Banquet” was originally a film from 1993. While the picture was a minor art-house hit, it’s mostly known today as a breakout release for director Ang Lee, who used such success to help build an unusual and occasionally successful helming career. A remake arrives from co-writer/director Andrew Ahn, who achieved some notice for 2022’s streaming comedy, “Fire Island,” and continues his interest in comedic situations and deeply personal feelings. Ahn teams up with original co-writer James Schamus for the reworking, aiming for a more updating take on challenges to life and love. However, heart remains a top priority for the production, and while touches of melodrama aren’t entirely avoided, Ahn handles character concerns with grace, and he’s overseeing an excellent cast who skillfully work with the material’s blend of bigness and intimacy. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Chad Archibald has been chipping away in horror entertainment for quite some time, with credits such as “I’ll Take Your Dead,” “Ejecta,” and “The Drownsman.” He’s clearly a genre fan, remaining focused on fright films for most of his career, and he returns to dark storytelling in “It Feeds,” which is arguably his best offering. The story of a clairvoyant woman and her war against the spread of a mysterious entity in her community, “It Feeds” isn’t a stunningly original take on an exhausting battle with multiple forms of evil, but Archibald has a few clear ideas for tension in the effort, which lands moments of decent suspense. And the helmer has a surprisingly effective cast to support his vision, finding acting unusually accomplished, adding to the pressurized viewing experience as emotional bonds are tested alongside supernatural ones. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com