Reel Reviews - Movie Reviews, blu-ray/DVD reviews

The Funeral: Criterion Collection (1984) - Blu-ray Review

Details: Published: 28 June 2022; Written by Emily Strong

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“Try to look more bereaved.” This isn’t how funerals are supposed to go. Or is it? Offering something arguably more realistic and touching than any other mopey, water-works-filled funeral sequence/movie we have seen before, Juzo Itami’s The Funeral does anything BUT try to make ...

The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection II Ultra 4K HD: Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt, The Trouble with Harry, Marnie, Family Plot

Details: Published: 28 June 2022; Written by Loron Hays

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Psychological. Shocking. Suspenseful. And downright BEAUTIFUL to look at. The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection II release in Ultra 4K is a DEFINITIVE release for some of the most thrilling classics from the master of the macabre. Seriously, there is no flaw to be seen in both the ...

Shaft: The Criterion Collection (1971) - 4K UHD Review

Details: Published: 28 June 2022; Written by Loron Hays

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Shaft in 4K?! With a new digital restoration, too? Can you dig it? Funked up by Isaac Hayes’ incredible score and theme, Richard Roundtree is back in action as Harlem P.I. John Shaft in this signature blaxploitation offering from director Gordon Parks (Shaft, Shaft’s Big Score). The character's ...

Glasshouse - Movie Review

Details: Published: 27 June 2022; Written by Loron Hays

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The apocalypse - by way of the slow burn found inside folk horror - looks EXACTLY like Glasshouse. Atmospheric in its rollout and made more suspenseful thanks to its own eeriness, Glasshouse is made complete thanks to the haunting (and absolutely stunning!!!) views of the Victorian Glass ...

H.P. Lovecraft's Witch House - Movie Review

Details: Published: 27 June 2022; Written by Loron Hays

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“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.” - H.P Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu ...

The House in Between 2 - Movie Review

Details: Published: 26 June 2022; Written by Loron Hays

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There is something strange STILL happening in Florence, Mississippi. As a fan of the Unexplained, I am always on the hunt for legitimate paranormal investigations which is why I originally visited the documentary The House in Between. Released in 2020, that film brought Alice Jackson and ...

THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED: THE STORY OF DON MCLEAN'S "AMERICAN PIE - Trailer Watch

Details: Published: 25 June 2022; Written by Frank Wilkins

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Paramount+ recently announced that THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED: THE STORY OF DON McLEAN’S “AMERICAN PIE” will premiere exclusively on the service Tuesday, July 19, both in the U.S. and internationally where the service is available. Additionally, the documentary ...

The Prey: Legend of Karnoctus - Movie Review

Details: Published: 23 June 2022; Written by Loron Hays

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No fire next to the chemicals! With that sentence, you get your ONE warning because The Prey: Legend of Karnoctus isn’t kidding around when it comes to MONSTERS and MAYHEM. Bringing its FOUR-EYED carnage to the hills and caves of Afghanistan, this film, directed by The Hensman ...

Film Noir - The Dark Side of Cinema, Volume VII: Chicago Confidential (1957)

Details: Published: 22 June 2022; Written by Loron Hays

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Tampering with evidence? Bullying witnesses? Doctoring voice recordings? Just what won’t the mob do?! Looks like it is all in play in 1957’s Chicago Confidential, written by Robert T. Marcus, which is now on blu-ray thanks to Kino Lorber’s ongoing Film Noir: The Dark Side of ...

Elvis - Movie Review

Details: Published: 24 June 2022; Written by Frank Wilkins

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Like The King of Rock n’ Roll himself, Baz Luhrmann’s new film, deceptively titled Elvis (more on that later), is bold, brash, and over the top. This should come as no surprise as the Moulin Rouge! director – subscriber to the Auteur Theory of filmmaking – is known for his distinctive style and ...