Rotten's Choice Cuts: February Edition

Films, DVDs, signings & screenings!

Choice Cuts is a list of your grade “A” horror-related “best bets” for the month across the board – theatrical fare, DVD (new or re-issues), special signings and revival screenings. Currently, all events listed below are located within the Los Angeles area, however, if you’re the organizer of an upcoming special event, contact us HERE to be included in future editions of Choice Cuts. As a reminder, you can click on the film titles for full cast and crew details, plot synopsis, photos, trailers and reviews (if available). Look for subsequent Choice Cuts to appear the first day of every month. For a complete list of releases this month visit Shock’s database.

The Objective (limited, February 4th): Blair Witch Project co-director Daniel Myrick’s latest effort – about a CIA-led mission that takes a supernatural turn in Afghanistan two months after 9/11 – goes down smoother than his last two films Solstice and Believers. Its cabalistic denouement is frustrating, yet the film carries enough authenticity and enough classic, spooky elements to be absorbing. It’s a Middle Eastern Quatermass movie with phantom helicopters, unexplained lights in the sky and deadly mirages – a “strangers in a strange land” genre think piece that tends to meander but is definitely worth a look.

Friday the 13th (February 13th): My hands are tied. Due to a review embargo (which I’m certain will lift early), I have to remain mum on what I thought of Platinum Dunes’ anticipated reboot of the Jason Voorhees franchise. I’ll leave you with this: The film wouldn’t be included in this edition of Choice Cuts if I didn’t like it…or, say, if I didn’t put it in my top five favorite Friday films.

Friday the 13th Parts 1 – 3 (February 3rd, Paramount): Sean Cunningham’s 1980 original arrives uncut on Blu-Ray and DVD with a few new special features and some imported from Paramount’s Friday box set. The Blu-Ray is worth it alone based on the transfer and the updated featurettes can be repetitive but are welcome with an informative commentary and an enjoyable look inside Cunningham’s home…not too shabby. Ditto goes for Part 2: More imported features, new interview with Crystal Lake Memories‘ Peter Bracke (which has a strange staged vibe about it) and a fascinating look at Voorhees fans at a horror convention. Part 3 arrives in 3-D – but it doesn’t work on me. Good effort on Paramount’s part, however. The most perplexing additions to these re-issues are the Lost Tales of Camp Blood short films. They’re pointless, inane and don’t feature Jason.

His Name Was Jason (February 3rd, Anchor Bay): A two-disc documentary that looks at the Friday the 13th legacy and features those who either worked on or were influenced by it. Ninety-minutes is an awful short running time to properly look at twelve films, but disc two makes up for this with uncut interviews. Read Shock’s full review here.

Tales from the Darkside: Season 1 (February 10th, Paramount): The series that kept this writer awake at night in the early ’80s makes its DVD debut. Although severely dated, and sometimes hokey, Darkside still manages to entertain.

Alien Raiders (February 17th, Warner Home Video): Terrible title but probably the best film to come out of Warner’s Raw Feed line. Combining elements of The Thing and The Hidden, Ben Rock drops the viewer into the center of a simmering hostage situation involving a grocery store full of customers and a gun-wielding team of hard-asses whose mission is to track down parasitic alien invaders. Rock’s budget is obviously modest but his enthusiasm is palpable and he generates a fair amount of suspense. This has plenty of potential for a sequel, a prequel or spin-off TV series.

Midnight Meat Train (February 17th, Lionsgate): Missed it in the theater? On FearNET? Don’t fret, Ryuhei Kitamura’s adaptation of the Clive Barker “Books of Blood” story finally rolls onto DVD and Blu-Ray.

Four Flies on Grey Velvet (February 24th, Mya Communication): Uncut, remastered and boasting a few notable special features. Released for the first time on DVD in the U.S. Full specs here.

The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (February 24th, Blue Underground): One of my favorite Argento giallo classics comes to Blu-Ray. Totally upgrading this one.