Constipated Henry in sequel

I rewatched HENRY - PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, PART 2 (aka Henry - Portrait of a Serial Killer 2: Mask of Sanity) last night. This time on blu-ray (Njuta Films, Sweden). I still can't make up my mind about it - do I like this or don't I. But no matter what, I've bought the fucking film three times! (fullscreen UK dvd, widescreen US dvd, and widescreen Swedish blu-ray)

It's a shit film compared to the original. And Neil Giuntoli is certainly no Michael Rooker. But as someone mentioned recently, if you're going to make a HENRY sequel without Rooker, Giuntoli is your best Henry. And yeah, I guess. When he's good in the film he's quite good. But there's just too many scenes where it was obvious the director said, "be Henry like Michael Rooker!" and he just looks like he's constipated. However, as a fun (and nasty) sequel it works alright. 

The question is just - should a "kinda good, kinda shitty" sequel exist to a fantastic original film? If they had called the film "Henrik - Portrait of a Mass Murderer" I would have no hesitation in barracking for it.  

PS: Be careful if you buy a reg. 1 dvd: there are two releases, one is heavily cut and one is uncut. The UK dvd is uncut (but fullscreen). The Swedish bluray is uncut and widescreen. 

Now, watch dese two different trailers (the top one being the longer, more nasty one):

PS: For some reason these two trailers have no avatar BUT they do work!

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Serial killer triple blu-rays in the mail

I haven't bought anything online in ages but I got these two blu-ray babies a couple of days ago; Three serial killer flicks, HENRY - PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER 1 & 2 and Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO. 

The HENRY - PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER blu-ray is from Njuta Films and, yes-yes-yes, I'm fully aware the Arrow people are going to release the film as well, but I don't care for their UHD version and the Njuta release has a second disk that includes the sequel! [EDIT: there is only one disc! Both films are on the same blu-ray disc] The Arrow release isn't going to include part 2. So there. I believe all the extras on the Njuta set are identical to the Dark Sky bluray.

By the way, I saw HENRY for the first time more than 30 years ago at the Scala Cinema in London (on a double bill with the original version of THE STEPFATHER). Since then I've got the film on various vhs tapes, several dvd's, and now bluray. Yeah, I quite like the film! I also own two dvd's of the sequel.

Hitchock's PSYCHO - I already own this on vhs, dvd and bluray, but this Nordic disk includes the new fully uncut print that was found in Germany. Obviously I had to have it! 
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PS: I got them both from cdon.dk, and the PSYCHO bluray is dead cheap there at the moment. 
PS.PS: No, HENRY 2 isn't a masterpiece but I thought it was alright. Better than its rep.

NB: HENRY har danske subs og det på trods af, at Njutas partner i Danmark, AWE, **ikke** har udsendt filmen herhjemme. Og jeg lader mig fortælle fra pålidelig kilde, at 2'eren er den uklippede udgave.

TIGER JOE now on English friendly blu-ray!

aka Fuga dall'arcipelago maledetto
Antonio Margheriti, Italy/Philippines 1982

For years I've been hoping that some label would release TIGER JOE on English friendly dvd or bluray, and finally (actually last year) a German label put it out on bluray - including the film's English audio!

 
I got the blu a couple of weeks back and it looks great. I haven't seen too much (any!) online talk about this. Maybe fans don't even know about this English friendly release AS THE COVER DOESN'T STATE IT CARRIES THE ENGLISH DUB. The cover says German and Italian audio! It doesn't actually have Italian audio but English.

 
TIGER JOE is a sequel (kinda) to THE LAST HUNTER. No, it's not quite as good, but I still like it a lot. It's got David Warbeck in the lead for crying out loud! 

 
The extras:
Audio commentary by Troy Howarth
16 page booklet (all in the Kaiser's German)
interview with Margheriti's son about these films (in Italian, subbed in English)
German & English audio. No subs for the film.

The version that I bought has a bluray and a dvd. Somebody mentioned there's also another German dvd release in English, but the cover for this bluray clearly states this is the first fully uncut German release, so be careful if you're looking to get another dvd release.

 
I got mine from D&T Mailorder in Austria. There are various different versions (different covers, same contents) but I think stock is getting low so be quick if you want one.

Trailer from Danish VHS tape (thanks to Diabolik) 

SATAN'S CHILDREN on blu-ray

I bought SATAN'S CHILDREN (Joe Wiezycki, USA, 1975) on DVD a long time ago. The DVD came out from Something Weird Video and now they've rereleased the film on a spiffy blu-ray! It's a coproduction with AGFA. I got the new release the other day and watched it right away. A very cool upgrade! A long time ago someone on dvdmaniacs forum said they needed a shower after each viewing of the film. I get that! SATAN'S CHILDREN is sick, sick, sick. Not overly gory (or gory at all) but the tone of the entire film is just dirty! And sick. If you're into exploitation films this is highly recommended. The second film on the blu-ray is SATANIS - THE DEVIL'S MASS which I haven't watched yet.

Check out Shock Cinema's review here.

Fan made trailer (at least it *looks* crude enough to be fan made!):

Bruno Mattei's ROBOWAR finally... FINALLY... on bluray!!!

They may not be in the porn business but even so the good people over at SEVERIN are trying their best to give fans of action cinema a throbbing hard-on! And they're succeeding!! I mean what other reaction would anybody (who's an action flick aficionado) get when they learn Severin are putting out Bruno Mattei's 300% entertaining remake of PREDATOR, ROBOWAR (Italy/Philippines 1988) on blu-ray!!!

Street date June 25. There's various different versions (and prices). Go here for the stand-alone blu-ray. There's a dvd release as well (but get the blu-ray, cabron!). John Dulaney posted about the release on one of my old posts about the film (from 2010!). John was in the film and in 2011 he posted links to behind the scenes videos that he and Catherine Hickland did. Incidentally, those very same videos are now being included on the blu-ray. You saw them here first! (I just had to say that, haha). This is certainly an old dream come true. Thanks, Severin! (please put out heaps more Mattei stuff). 



WE'RE ALL USED TO THE OLD SUBTITLED TRAILER FROM JAPANESE VHS SO HERE'S THE NEW ONE FROM SEVERIN:






INFO FROM SEVERIN'S SITE:

A year before their jaw-dropper SHOCKING DARK, director Bruno Mattei (VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN’S PRISON) and co-writers Claudio Fragasso & Rossella Drudi (NIGHT KILLER, ZOMBIE 4) first collaborated on this brain-melting mash-up of PREDATOR, ROBOCOP and Philippines war movie mayhem: When a team of badass commandos is hired for a jungle rescue mission, they’ll instead find them hunted by a kill-crazed creature that is part man, part machine and all glorious ‘80s ItaloSleaze. Reb Brown (UNCOMMON VALOR), Catherine Hickland (ONE LIFE TO LIVE), Massimo Vanni (RATS: NIGHT OF TERROR) and Jim Gaines (ISLAND OF THE LIVING DEAD) star in this “freaking awesome must-watch for any action fan” (BMovieCitadel.com), now scanned in 4k from the original negative and loaded with all-new Special Features.  

Special Features:

• Robo Predator: Interview with Co-Director/Co-Writer Claudio Fragasso
• Italian Rip Off: Interview with Co-Writer Rossella Drudi
• Violence She Wrote: Career Interview with Screenwriter Rossella Drudi
• Robo-Lady: Interview with Actress Catherine Hickland
• Papa Doc’s War: Interview with Actor John P. Dulaney
• The Robowarrior: Interview with Actor Jim Gaines Jr.
• War in the Phillipines: Interview with Actor/Stuntman Massimo Vanni
• Catherine Hickland’s Behind The Scenes Home Movies
• Trailer