The complications of relationships and unsatisfied people are explored in 1999's oddly titled "Dogs in Quicksand." Writer/director Mike Trippiedi goes the multi-character route for the endeavor, assembling an assortment of emotionally unstable people experiencing tremendous upheaval in their lives, trying to make sense of their own desires and attraction to others. The helmer creates a cat's cradle of personalities to inspect for the run time, as each participant is facing trouble they can't process in a healthy manner, leading to a series of strange connections and desires, dusted with a little violence to help add tension to the picture. "Dogs in Quicksand" is meant to be a dark comedy, as bad things happen to bad people, and Trippiedi attempts to play the whole production with a certain snappiness, investing in dialogue and broad performances to help the offering reach a semi- farcical speed. It's a laudable effort, but Trippiedi doesn't know when to quit, pushing the feature into tedium as it tries to add turns to turns already in the plot. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

1995's "Fatal Delusion" is a sensitive study of wartime PTSD and the corrosive nature of violence as it penetrates mind and body, sending a simple man to extremes as he processes his time in the military. Just kidding. This is a W.A.V.E., shot-on-video production from creators Gary Whitson and Ray Longo, who use the cruelties of battle to launch another fetish video for the company, quickly returning to their love of restraint, bathing, and unspeakable violence committed against women. A serial killer story is offered in "Fatal Delusion," as Longo scripts himself a starring role as a madman with a military past, taking out his "rage" on females who vaguely resemble part of his nightmare experience in Vietnam. Perhaps there's something to follow in such a tale of insanity, but W.A.V.E. doesn't roll that way, merely using the fiendish inspiration to maintain a steady view of kinks for their customers, paying minimal attention to the basics in dramatic intensity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Straw” is Tyler Perry’s fifth feature in two years (a sixth, “Madea’s Destination Wedding,” is due out next month). He works extremely fast, and with this new release, perhaps too fast, as the movie was reportedly shot in just four days, and the finished product definitely reflects a production that didn’t stop to really consider its premise and performances. The material (credited to Perry) details the overwhelming frustration swarming a single mother who’s dealing with every responsibility imaginable, finally breaking from the stress as she takes a gun and tries to collect money owed to her in a bank. It’s a standoff story in many ways, but Perry is also trying to address the plight of women facing impossible odds of survival. “Straw” means well enough, at least during its first half, but Perry’s painfully manipulative ways with drama ultimately torpedo whatever meaningfulness the picture hopes to offer, becoming yet another eye-rolling soap opera for the repetitive filmmaker. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2022’s “Prey” brought the “Predator” franchise back to life after it was nearly destroyed by 2018’s “The Predator,” Shane Black’s inept take on master hunter action. Director Dan Tractenberg managed to get the series back to basics with the prequel, handling a limited budget and small-scale concept with some skill, winning over the target audience and restoring a little critical support for the brand name. The helmer is far from done with this cinematic world, but before the live-action “Predator: Badlands” hits screens later this year, there’s an animated presentation of alien entanglements in “Predator: Killer of Killers,” which is an anthology film that explores other tales of battle and honor throughout the years. Tractenberg and co-director Josh Wassung take this creative opportunity very seriously, launching brutal, bruising chapters of conflict and survival as more Earthlings tangle with barbarians from another world. “Killer of Killers” is perhaps the best “Predator” installment since the 1987 original, as animation makes a winning match to the sci-fi/action needs of the premise. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The “John Wick” saga found some form of closure in 2023, when the third sequel managed to deliver at the box office and please fans. It was an exhausting journey, but there was a sense of finality to it all. Lionsgate Films isn’t quite ready to say goodbye to the brand name, issuing a spin-off in “Ballerina,” which turns to actress Ana de Armas to continue down the path of pain Wick himself, Keanu Reeves, left behind. Actually, Reeves isn’t entirely done with the series, but this is de Armas’s film, and she makes the most of the action opportunity, providing a pleasant, forceful lead performance in a feature that’s determined to destroy her character. “Ballerina” has endured plenty of production trouble (it was originally shot nearly three years ago, and extensively reworked and reshot since then), making a true director’s vision difficult to discern (Len Wiseman is credited, while franchise overlord Chad Stahelski handled updates), but the picture itself contains plenty of explosive, bruising sequences, which helps to distract from its limited interest in storytelling. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“Emmanuelle” began life as a 1967 novel by author Emmanuelle Arsan, who collected her sexual fantasies and shared them with the world, turning her book into a best-seller for readers interested in a more refined presentation of lust. This literary success eventually spawned a film franchise that began in 1974, helping to launch the career of star Sylvia Kristel during the “porno chic” era. Sequels were made, and soon enough, producers went wild with the brand name in a very “Amityville”-like manner, including “Black Emanuelle,” “Carry On Emmanuelle,” and a television series, “Emmanuelle in Space.” Co-writer/director Audrey Diwan looks to restore a little seriousness to the franchise, delivering a frostier take on amorous activity in “Emmanuelle,” which attempts to remain as serious as possible while dealing with sexualized encounters and games of mystery. The helmer has the right idea when it comes to commitment to the material, but this feature fails to summon heat, or any emotion, really, as Diwan keeps the whole thing mummified while aiming to deliver excitement. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Moviegoers are routinely confronted with offerings of Shark Attack Cinema, as producers are still finding profit in the dangers of the deep sea. “Dangerous Animals” also deals with an aquatic threat involving massive predators, but screenwriter Nick Lepard hopes to subvert expectations for the usual in oceanic panic by creating a different kind of serial killer tale, following the exploits of a madman using sharks to help feed his obsession with taking innocent lives. Director Sean Byrne doesn’t work often (previously helming 2009’s “The Loved Ones” and 2015’s “The Devil’s Candy”), but he’s prepared to deliver something quite strange and semi-disturbing in “Dangerous Animals,” which aims to unsettle viewers with prolonged scenes of suffering and grisly kills. Byrne gets a little carried away when trying to shock his audience, but he generates a compelling nightmare, adding an interesting intimidation factor to an odd study of perversion and death. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Life of Chuck” is based on a Stephen King novella from 2020, and we’ve been here before. Works from the iconic author, especially shorter ones, have inspired a few of the finest King adaptations around, including 1994’s “The Shawshank Redemption” and 1986’s “Stand by Me.” That same level of cinematic magic isn’t quite present in the new picture, but writer/director Mike Flanagan (a King Country vet with work on “Gerald’s Game” and “Doctor Sleep”) remains ambitious with the effort, out to scramble minds and soothe souls with the movie, which looks to fold time and space in an attempt to address the human condition. “The Life of Chuck” is all over the place, and Flanagan’s lyrical approach to the endeavor might feel like itching powder to some viewers. It’s a deeply flawed offering of mystery, but the helmer fully commits to the strangeness of it all, which is impressive, clearly out to deliver an inscrutable feature that’s meant to connect in a heartfelt manner. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Nina Conti is a gifted ventriloquist and comedian who achieved some notice for her collaboration with Monkey, a profane creation offering a voice for its performer as bits and pieces of psychological examination were worked out. Conti elects to expand on the ways of Monkey in “Sunlight,” turning the hand puppet into a full-sized creation, but one still capable of providing a broad understanding of dissociation in darkly comedic ways. Strangely credited as written by Conti and co-star Shenoah Allen, with a screenplay by Allen, “Sunlight” is a semi-improvised inspection of bruised people making an unexpected connection while embarking on a road trip, trying to understand their dire situations while one of the characters remains in a monkey suit for most of the run time. Conti doesn’t have a firm hold on pacing, but she’s open to explore the messiness of the personalities and their road to some form of healing, making a humorous endeavor that’s often surprising and marvelously acted. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Filmmakers Brian Crano and David Joseph Craig team up to deliver a shot of dark comedy and mild horror with “I Don’t Understand You.” The pair also claim credit for the screenplay, creating a nightmare scenario of misunderstanding for two men on vacation in Italy (oddly, Amanda Knox is listed as a co-producer), about to experience a seismic change in their lives. Crano and Craig have fondness for the ridiculous in the feature, which takes on some fairly grim turns of bodily harm, but miraculously never succumbs to tonal instability. It’s a weirdly upbeat picture about complete catastrophe, putting the helmers to work reinforcing character and craziness, which gets the endeavor most of the way there. “I Don’t Understand You” is an offering of macabre entertainment, and it’s supported with enthusiasm by actors Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells, who handle the thespian requirements of the effort, which asks them to provide a steady stream of nervous energy as the writing dreams up new ways to ruin a simple vacation for the characters. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Evan Ari Kelman makes his feature-length directorial debut with “Barron’s Cove,” also claiming screenplay duties. He’s looking to make a deep impression with the picture, creating a tale of agonizing loss and grief, also shaping an unusual revenge story between an emotionally devastated man and the 10-year-old boy he believes murdered his son. There’s incredible bleakness to the material, which ends up becoming its most compelling element, daring to explore the depths of emotional instability and feral thinking during a nightmarish time. Kelman has something with the premise and characters, but he can’t sustain such intensity, eventually transforming the film into a thriller of sorts, which is the wrong way to go. “Barron’s Cove” is eventually sunk by weak creative decisions and editorial indifference, but it does contain a riveting first act, promising a severe study of madness that never arrives. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“The Ritual” is a little late to the party. Over the last few years, there’s been an abundance of films released concerning the powers of Satan and his insistence that the only way to disrupt faith and humanity is to emerge through possession. There was “The Pope’s Exorcist,” “The Exorcist: Believer,” “The First Omen,” “The Exorcism,” and “Immaculate.” Hollywood loves their demon tales, but “The Ritual” hopes to distance itself from the pack, labeled as “based on true events,” examining the case of Emma Schmidt (a.k.a. Anna Ecklund), an alleged victim of possession who battled evil with help from Father Theophilus Riesinger nearly 100 years ago. Co-writer/director David Midell seems to think there’s dramatic potential in an extremely well-worn topic, and he tries to find the urgency of the story. However, there’s no suspense to be found in this offering, which looks cheaply made and isn’t concerned with creating a fear factor as it slowly reheats scenes from subgenre classics. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When “Rad” opened in March 1986, almost nobody bought a ticket to see it. The feature was unable to topple stiff competition in the form of “Police Academy 3: Back in Training” and “Pretty in Pink,” quickly kicked out of theaters and sent to home video, primed to be lost on the shelves of rental stores. However, something happened to “Rad” that was, well, radical. The movie found an audience on the small screen, developing a cult following as the film made its way to cable, strengthening admiration for this weird little endeavor out to celebrate the new ways of BMX competition. Director Michael Kirsch employs this fandom to inspire the creation of “A Rad Documentary,” which is the first (and likely only) breakdown of the production process on the picture, collecting interviews from a handful of people who participated in the shoot. “A Rad Documentary” isn’t quite as tightly ordered or probing as this type of informational journey usually goes, but it’s out to deliver a firm appreciation of the 1986 release, and Kirsch definitely has enthusiasm for all things “Rad.” Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Exploitation cinema should offer a little screen energy. After all, this kind of entertainment usually deals with dangerous situations and general human ugliness, giving filmmakers opportunities to deliver at least some form of excitement to keep viewers interested. 1986's "Abducted" (loosely inspired by a true story) initially appears to follow the norm in B-movie distractions, pitting a helpless victim against her kidnapper in the middle of nowhere, creating opportunities for visceral interactions to occur. Writer/director Boon Collins weirdly walks away from such potential in the endeavor, preferring to craft a more talkative and travelogue-y take on the central crisis, which really isn't a crisis at all. "Abducted" has a charged title and gets right to the point after five minutes of screentime, only to end up a bizarrely inert study of relationships and nature, as Collins has no imagination for active horror and desperation. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The war for control of Hong Kong breaks out in 1990's "An Eye for an Eye." Director O Sing-Pui endeavors to bring a little mayhem to the clash, going into overkill mode as gun battles and chases commence in the feature, which isn't short on furious violence. However, personal relationships, unrequited love, and Triad power plays are favored in the screenplay, with melodrama tending to dominate the viewing experience. "An Eye for an Eye" remains mildly entertaining and always bizarre in its depiction of human and inhuman behavior, but it stays a little too distant from more physical activities, which end up a periodic event in this film. The production is certainly ready to rumble, yet the story's take on anguished hearts is oddly prioritized, making for an uneven effort. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When it comes to shot-on-video productions, style isn't expected. Heck, it's amazing some of these filmmakers even know how to maintain focus, leaving actual camerawork and editing something of a miracle when technical achievements manage to survive subgenre mediocrity. 1998's "Gut Pile" is mostly notable due to its restlessness and interest in trying to bring cinematic moves to SOV storytelling. Sure, it's derivative work, as writer/director Jerry O'Sullivan is attempting to pull off an "Evil Dead" viewing experience, paying tribute to Sam Raimi with this study of malevolent spirits and growing insanity found within the woods. We've seen this before, but O'Sullivan offers a loving replication of deadite fury in "Gut Pile," which isn't a feature-length experiment in terror (running 53 minutes), but strives to contribute moments of excitement with a simplistic tale of torment. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Jesse Armstrong is best known for his work as the creator of “Succession,” a critically lauded television show that collected many awards and some level of viewership during its run. Armstrong uses his newfound power to step into the director’s chair, making his helming debut with “Mountainhead,” which was reportedly shot just a few months ago, making a speedy run to its streaming debut. And there’s a good reason for such a quick turnaround, as the material (also credited to Armstrong) examines a handful of tech billionaires and influencers gathering for a weekend of fun, only to end up in a position of world domination. The screenplay hopes to turn headline news into a chamber piece, and Armstrong comes armed with a few disturbing ideas to get the picture on its feet. “Mountainhead” has its provocative moments and ideas, but there isn’t much of a film here. It’s more of a theater piece, and while it commences with attitude and timeliness, Armstrong kills the endeavor with a semi-incomplete, tonally uneven conclusion, which is one of the great third-act wipeouts in recent memory. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1982's "The Dark Crystal," co-director Jim Henson took a chance on fantasy storytelling, going somewhat severe in a masterfully crafted endeavor that brought out the best in his puppeteering vision. A more lighthearted take on unreality is ordered for 1986's "Labyrinth," which carries an inviting mood of adventuring and relationships to help welcome audiences to another stunning display of creature design and puppetry. The humans aren't bad either, as star Jennifer Connelly offers an earnest take on teenage combustion, while David Bowie goes all sinister and uncomfortably seductive as Jareth, a most determined Goblin King. Henson creates a musical and an odyssey, aiming for brightness in the feature, achieving such creative goals with exemplary technical credits. Perhaps "Labyrinth" isn't as commanding as "The Dark Crystal," but themes resonate and a sense of humor is welcome, turning the picture into a highly amusing viewing experience. It also provides another reminder of Henson's special brilliance. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

2010’s “The Karate Kid” remake was a monster hit. The dramatic achievement of the picture is certainly open for debate, but audiences showed up to see Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith recreate the martial arts magic of the wonderful 1984 original film. Weirdly, there was no sequel, especially with a brand name that’s happy to go franchise with anything, including a cult television series, “Cobra Kai,” that ended earlier this year. “Karate Kid: Legends” isn’t really a continuation of the 2010 or 1984 feature, as screenwriter Rob Lieber (who did fine work with 2014’s “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day”) is tasked with creating a blend of the old and the older, trying to make something new out of the tight formula the series is known for. The production is in a hurry to get through the details of the plot, but “Legends” is energetically directed by Jonathan Entwistle and charmingly performed by the cast, who help to make the unavoidable predictability of it all actually quite enjoyable. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Bono has a healthy ego. He’s been part of the band U2 for nearly 50 years, experiencing all kinds of incredible creative and financial success, even achieving a level of political influence as his charitable interests intensified. Nobody thinks more highly of Bono than Bono, and it’s precisely this theatricality that powers all of “Stories of Surrender,” which brings the singer’s one-man show to screens under the care of director Andrew Dominik (“Blonde,” “Killing Them Softly,” and “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”), who seems to understand the best way to present the performer. Bono’s been big for most of his career, offered a chance to physically interpret sections of his 2022 memoir for an audience at a New York City theater, and this cinematic experience is strictly reserved for fans. However, there’s artistry from Dominik and passion from Bono, collaborating on an emotional journey of achievement and loss that goes a bit beyond the U2 Story, and music supports the odyssey, offering a fresh perspective on old songs. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com