In this new SHOCK column, journo Trevor Parker sifts through discount stores for the cheapest and coolest DVDs and Blus he can find and lives to tell the tale hey, its a living!
Theres no shortage of pundits out there who are happy to declare physical media to be cold and stiff in its grave. The evidence seems to bear this pronouncement out: Shuttered-up video storefronts, shelf space for DVDs endlessly receding in major retailers, and popular streaming services accumulating the kind of profile and production clout once reserved solely for Hollywood entertainment conglomerates.
This is all rather grim news for disciples of the disc, but a niche market of hardcore collectors will tell you this: physical media hasnt died (hence the title of this column), it has simply compartmentalized. True, long gone are the days when SPIDER MAN or JERRY MAGUIRE DVDs could move units in the millions and sit on shelves beneath every other television in the nation. Yet collectors know that there has actually never been a better time to shop for shiny plastic: boutique labels in it for love over money are issuing comprehensive special editions of beloved classics or obscure finds, often freshened up with hi-definition Blu-ray sheen. There are also the bargains to be hadstudios dumping old catalogue titles out onto cut-rate multi-packs, or retailers who overestimated the popularity of certain titles and forced to drop prices to blow out inventory.
It is with the second category that this new column will be concerned; the disc finds made in dollar stores, in gas stations, on flea market tables. This column aims to celebrate the euphoric feeling when a low-risk investment pays off, when a great disc is found at a dirt price. It also aims to warn readers off of suspect discs that should have remained buried in their bins, cheapo crap whose true cost manifests as regret and frustration; wasted time as opposed to wasted cash.
So lets dive right in: the budget label Mill Creek has been given permission to plumb the bowels of Sony and Disneys vaultstheir archaeology presumably confined to titles that the parent studios have no plans to remake, or with which high-end re-issuers like Twilight Time couldnt be bothered. Thus, store shelves are now clogged by Mill Creeks blu-ray two-packs of lame comedies, HOLLOW MAN movies, and one hellish double feature consisting of Harrison Fords cop dud HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE alongside Bruce Willis insufferably smug vanity vehicle HUDSON HAWK. Also part of this Mill Creek series is an interesting disc housing two forgotten fright flicks from the nineties, namely DEEP RISING (1998) and THE PUPPET MASTERS (1994).
Writer/director Stephen Sommers may still be vilified within the horror community for a blasphemous dalliance with the Universal Monsters in his pratfall of a movie called VAN HELSING, but lets not forget he once excelled at crafting earnest, innocuous action-horror junk. His MUMMY remake and DEEP RISING are prime examples of this. The RISING plot has Treat (DEAD HEAT) Williams as a harried ship captain hired to ferry a gang of rogues out to a floating casino moored in the South Pacific. Unbeknownst to the gang, a prehistoric underwater behemoth has beaten them to their quarry, having already ransacked the casino and gobbled up the assortment of monied nitwits within. As the gang arrive at their deep sea destination, their nefarious intentions wont save them from the famished interloper eager to crack into a fresh helping of chewy visitors
RISING has a number of faults, but failing to amuse isnt one of them. Its a lively and lowbrow monster movie that would be best enjoyed on a drowsy Saturday afternoon, and it boasts a cracking synth-infused score by the late, great Jerry Goldsmitharguably the best action movie composer of all time. Since Williams is really working as a B-grade Kurt Russell here, Sommers matches him by scribbling some B-grade Tarantino tough-guy banter for the gang to trade constantly amongst themselves. Their yapping is mildly irritating, but there a much more serious disappointment aboard this cruise, and it comes as the name Rob Bottin flashes up in the opening credits as the films creature designer. RISING sadly relies on then-novel CGI effects work to create the unimaginative threat of tentacles with mouths, and the climactic reveal of the giant cephalopod to whom the tentacles belong displays a design thats laughably generic. Its a blight on the resumé of the man who built the shapeless and shockingly inspired biohazards found in John Carpenters THE THING.
THE PUPPET MASTERS is the lesser-known film of the two, despite such high profile talent as screenwriter David (Nolans BATMAN trilogy) Goyer on scripting duty. Based on a novel by Robert Heinlein, MASTERS begins with a UFO crashing in Iowa, one that soon has a flurry of insectile leeches concealing themselves along human spines and assuming total control of their hosts. A squad of government agents are flown in to investigate, and the agents quickly discover that no one is to be trusted as the aliens begin to spread their influence throughout the country with exponential speed.
MASTERS is a tight, tense spin through what is, admittedly, an extremely well-tread storyline. There are a few silly moments, such as an elderly small town constable hanging off the door of a speeding car to pester our fleeing heroes (hes been possessed and is now super-strong, natch), or some hilariously hyper-dramatic musical stabs, but director Stuart Orme keeps the proceedings fairly low key for a potboiler of this ilk and does well not to telegraph his third-act twist. Visually, MASTERS isnt much to look atshot with a drab beige and grey color palette, and filled with the anonymous glass buildings and ill-fitting G-man suits endemic to many paranoid governmental thrillers arriving in the wake of the X-FILESbut it does have the undervalued Donald Sutherland in a lead role. Sutherland is today enjoying a late career renaissance thanks to his presence in the HUNGER GAMES movies, and hes exceptional here as the professorial leader of the insertion team. Sutherlands imperious voice adds a bit of welcome lather to some unwieldy stretches of pseudoscientific jargon. And unlike RISING, MASTERS is brimming with puppetry and mucky practical effects (built by Greg Cannom) as the tentacled alien crayfish break loose to slither and bite.
By no means forgotten gems, DEEP RISING and THE PUPPET MASTERS are nonetheless fun and watchable fare. There is zero in the way of special features to be found on this edition, but at least the hi-def transfers are bright and clean. The disc comes recommended and is more than worth a couple of bucks, but just make sure you dont snap up a copy of HUDSON HAWK by mistake.
