Justice
Howard is a photographer who specializes in classy erotica and artsy
celebrity portraits. Howard definitely has a good eye and some
interesting concepts, and if you want to check out some of her work as a
still photographer head on over to her website. But taking carefully
posed and composed photos and shooting a moving image are two different
things. So how does Howard’s vision translate to video? Well, it’s a
bit of a mixed bag, but overall I’d say it works pretty well.
This DVD is actually 3 movies on one disc,
including volumes 1 through 3 of the HIHH series. Volumes 1 and 2 each
contain a number of interesting vignettes and run about an hour long.
Various models engage in fetish play, dance, and/or pose while punk,
electronica, garage rock, surf, industrial, and heavy metal songs play
in the background. Sometimes the models are alone, sometimes they’re
with other models. There’s hardly any dialogue (volume one is
completely free of speaking parts) and no plot to any of it, but it’s a
pretty enjoyable viewing experience if you like this kind of erotica.
Whatever fetish you can think of, chances are it’s represented in these
first two installments. There’s light bondage/S&M, foot fetishism,
“pony girls”, latex, fifties “bad girls”, and naughty nuns. Some of
this footage is given cheesy computerized effects, but thankfully not
too much of it. There are also a couple of scenes of simulated lesbian
sex of the sort you might see on late night cable (shot with a more
artistic eye than your typical erotic thriller hack director) but
nothing that would qualify as hardcore.
Volume 3, however, gets a little tedious. Now I
personally like Julie Strain, but she’s in way too many segments of this
installment, and pretty much just does glamour girl poses in various
costumes in all of them. The rest of this installment includes way too
many looong scenes of girls dancing, working out, or otherwise engaged
in solo strip tease type activities. It’s sort of like watching one of
those old fifties burlesque movies like ‘Varietease’ or ‘Teaserama’.
The music is also a step down from the first two volumes, with way too
much bad industrial for my tastes, and the cheesy video effects seemed
more annoying this time around. This installment also clocks in the
longest, at almost an hour and a half. I’m sure there are viewers who
would still enjoy it, but it left me kind of cold. But that’s ok,
because volumes one and two are certainly worth the purchase price on
their own, provided you’re looking for artsy erotica and not hardcore or
something with a plot. Note: Utter Trash interview subject
Mistress Persephone
appears in volume one. (Bob Ignizio)
This
is a short documentary on the real people that the Martin Scorcese movie
‘Casino’ was based on. If you’re a fan of that movie, or gangster lore in
general, then you’ll probably want to check this out. Unfortunately, this
doesn’t really get too deep into the subject, mainly because none of the
interviewees are willing to talk much. While the real life inspirations for
the characters in ‘Casino’ may be dead, the Mafia is still very much a going
concern, and loose lips could result in dire consequences. So what do we
have? Well, we get some interesting interviews with people who knew the
inspirations for the characters, some of whom were in the mob themselves,
some of whom were in mob families, and some of who just had to deal with the
gangsters in the course of their lives. You get a few good stories and some
clarification on what was real and what wasn’t in the movie (apparently most
of it was pretty close to the truth), and some bonus behind the scenes
material and outtakes that help bring the total running time of this disc
close to the hour and a half mark. This is a fairly well made film, but
there's just not much to it. I can't say I blame the filmmakers - I
wouldn't want to wind up taking a swim with concrete boots on, either.
But ultimately, there just isn't that much of substance left to make it into
this documentary. (Bob Ignizio)
The
latest Dario Arergento movie. It has been out for years now, and all
that has been released in the US was a crappy full screen cut version on
DVD. What's the point? But thanks to the nice people at b ware, we now
have access to a cool widescreen uncensored version. While this is by
no means on the level of Argento classics like ‘Tenebrae’ and Opera (my
2 Argento favs), it is definitely not as bad as garbage like ‘The
Stendahl Syndrome’. It seems someone is killing people with the same
methods used years before by a mean dwarf killer. Is it the same
person, or a lame copycat? You will have to sit through it like I did
to find out, but in between there is some stuff to discuss.
Most noticeable is the lack of previous Argento
trademarks. There is not really any wild camera work or visual flairs
like there used to be, minus the red carpet/decapitation scene. That’s
too bad too, because it plays more like a random slasher movie than
anything like before. I always thought the extra visuals always moved
Argento's work above what it would have been without them. Sadly, not
very much of that is to be seen here. Also, when we find out who the
killer is, it was kind of a letdown, as was how they explained the
existence of the dwarf. But not to fret, it is not all bad.
The
acting is way above par, especially by Max Von Sydow. I thought he was
underused in this, but when he is on screen he is good. Also, in the
uncut version there are two scenes of gore which are quick shocking.
One is basically a well executed rip off of the ending of ‘The New York
Ripper’, but the other is a death via flute, which is graphic and bloody
and actually made me sit up and take note. Job very well done. While
this movie never reached the glory of some of his previous work, Argento
manages to give us a mildly enjoyable slasher, with a few twists and
turns. Check it out. (Edward Black)
I
have always been a huge fan of slasher movies and this one comes from
the golden age of such films (the early 80's). Add on the fact that
this one was directed by the king of all things grim and wrong, David
Hess, and my hopes were already high. But I'm sad to say this one is a
mixed bag. The plot of this one concerns a group of college kids who
stick around a deserted girls college during Christmas break for a wild
party. The party isn't very wild at all, but it does give a crazy
person dressed up in a Santa Suit an excuse to kill people for ninety
seven minutes. Of course, the acting is going to be bad. No surprises
there. There are even the requisite cardboard characters from every
other slasher movie ever made before and since this one. There is the
creepy handyman, the strict housemother, the loose girl, the prude girl,
the drunk jock, etc. Nothing new there, either. I hope I don't sound
too down on this one so far, because what I've mentioned is to be
expected of this kind of film. That’s why I love them.
A lot of people die in ‘To All a Good Night’, which
is good. A few of the murders take place outside and at night, and it
is way too dark to see what is going on, but most of those victims are
only stabbed. Besides that, we are treated to a pretty nasty throat
slashing and a scene where a copulating couple are killed via cross bow
and decapitation. Also of note is a sex scene where the woman and the
guy both make mooing noises that sound like an actual cow was dubbed
into the soundtrack. No joke. Also, the ending was a great non
surprise, and everyone I watched this with had it figured out at least
twenty minutes before the big finale. So, as long as you are looking
for a completely generic slasher movie, with some above average death
scenes and a semi poke at the ‘Psycho’ shower scene, then by all means
check this out. (Edward Black)
Justice
Howard is a photographer who specializes in classy erotica and artsy
celebrity portraits. Howard definitely has a good eye and some
interesting concepts, and if you want to check out some of her work as a
still photographer head on over to her website. But taking carefully
posed and composed photos and shooting a moving image are two different
things. So how does Howard’s vision translate to video? Well, it’s a
bit of a mixed bag, but overall I’d say it works pretty well. 
This
is a short documentary on the real people that the Martin Scorcese movie
‘Casino’ was based on. If you’re a fan of that movie, or gangster lore in
general, then you’ll probably want to check this out. Unfortunately, this
doesn’t really get too deep into the subject, mainly because none of the
interviewees are willing to talk much. While the real life inspirations for
the characters in ‘Casino’ may be dead, the Mafia is still very much a going
concern, and loose lips could result in dire consequences. So what do we
have? Well, we get some interesting interviews with people who knew the
inspirations for the characters, some of whom were in the mob themselves,
some of whom were in mob families, and some of who just had to deal with the
gangsters in the course of their lives. You get a few good stories and some
clarification on what was real and what wasn’t in the movie (apparently most
of it was pretty close to the truth), and some bonus behind the scenes
material and outtakes that help bring the total running time of this disc
close to the hour and a half mark. This is a fairly well made film, but
there's just not much to it. I can't say I blame the filmmakers - I
wouldn't want to wind up taking a swim with concrete boots on, either.
But ultimately, there just isn't that much of substance left to make it into
this documentary. (Bob Ignizio)
The
latest Dario Arergento movie. It has been out for years now, and all
that has been released in the US was a crappy full screen cut version on
DVD. What's the point? But thanks to the nice people at b ware, we now
have access to a cool widescreen uncensored version. While this is by
no means on the level of Argento classics like ‘Tenebrae’ and Opera (my
2 Argento favs), it is definitely not as bad as garbage like ‘The
Stendahl Syndrome’. It seems someone is killing people with the same
methods used years before by a mean dwarf killer. Is it the same
person, or a lame copycat? You will have to sit through it like I did
to find out, but in between there is some stuff to discuss. 