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DVD Releases: 02/21/2006
By John Marrone
Feb 21, 2006, 16:20

Wake the publicists with a severed horse head - for Ill be searching for theirs, if next week's horror feed is as week.  Has love killed the beast of evil and death?  Is it possible that chocolate and syrup have replaced the everlasting feast of flesh and blood?  Has everybody wrapped their arms around each other with hugs and kisses and gone to bed, only to neglect the lifetime of darkness and misery and despair that got them to where they are today?  Lest we pray to the Devil himself - beg for more serial killers, cannibals, and demons - this could be the happy ending I have eternally feared.  Do not blink, children of blood - you may miss this week's newcomers to the shelf.  From the amateur independant filmmaker to the mega-dollar hollywood productions... Here are the new DVD releases for this forgotten week of February 21th, 2006...

Class of 1984 (1982)
- trailer (windows media) -    
93 minutes

Rated R
Starring Timothy Van Patten, Roddy McDowall, Michael J. Fox
Directed by Mark L. Lester 

IMDB Plot Description:  Andy is a new teacher and an inner city high school that is like nothing he has ever seen before. The students have to go through a metal detector when they go through the front door and everything is basically run by a tough kid named Peter Stegman. Soon, Andy and Stegman become enemies and Stegman will stop at nothing to protect his turf and drug dealing business.

This aint 90210 - Michael J. Fox'll tell ya.  In the early 80's, a bunch of vigilante themed films had their 15 minutes of fame.  This was one of them, and over the years it remains one of the more memorable.  They probably won't be making movies like this too often anymore, after school violence DID grip America's schools through the 90's, with incidents like the Columbine high school massacre.  If I were to choose from this week's list, I'd pick this up.  A little low-budget and dated, but good.

DVD Features Include:  English dolby 5.1 audio, "Blood and Blackboards" new featurette, audio commentary with director Mark Lester, the trailer, 2 TV spots, a poster and still gallery, a Mark Lester bio, and a DVD-ROM screenplay

Click here to get it from Amazon.com

Pulse (2006)
- trailer 1 (windows media) -
- trailer 2 (windows media) -  
118 minutes

Unrated
Starring Haruhiko Katô, Kumiko Aso, Koyuki
Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa 

IMDB/Amazon.com Plot Description:  Imagine our wireless technologies made a connection to a world beyond our own. Imagine that world used that technology as a doorway into ours. Now, imagine the connection we made can't be shut down. When you turn on your cell phone or log on to your e-mail, they'll get in, you'll be infected and they'll be able to take life.  After one of their friends commits suicide, strange things begin happening to a group of young Tokyo residents. One of them sees visions of his dead friend in the shadows on the wall, while another's computer keeps showing strange, ghostly images. Is their friend trying to contact them from beyond the grave, or is there something much more sinister going on?

This film seems very much like a bit of a cross between Stephen King's new hardcover "Cell", and the horror classic The Ring.  Although it was produced on a budget under a million dollars, fans seem to have good things to say about it.  More of a typical asian-horror creeper with bizarre startling images, and thematic terrors like shadows and the such, than a flesh-tearing gore flick.

DVD Features Include:  English or Spanish subtitles, Japanese audio track (unknown quality), "The Making of Pulse" featurette, and a trailer

Click here to get it from Amazon.com

Mixed Blood (1985)
- trailer (windows media) -  
98 minutes

Unrated
Starring Marília Pêra, Richard Ulacia, Linda Kerridge
Directed by Paul Morrissey 

Yahoo Movies Description:  An urban drama set in the Lower East Side in which a ruthless mother-son duo set up an illegal drug trafficking headquarters comprised of the neighborhood's latino youth--it is both a place of business, and a place called home for this extended family-of-sorts... and furthermore, they'll risk anything to protect their turf.

Its listed on Amazon.com as a general horror film, but in all honestly it leans towards an action/drama gang flick.  Directed by Paul Morrissey who has firm horror roots, with movies such as Blood of Dracula and Flesh for Frankenstein as notches on his belt.

DVD Features Include:  English audio (dolby digital 1.0), and a still gallery with commentary by director Paul Morrissey

Click here to get it from Amazon.com

Cerberus (2005)
92 minutes

Rated R for violence
Starring Greg Evigan, Garret Sato, Gabi Andronache
Directed by John Terlesky

Yahoo Movies Description:  When the breastplate of Attila the Hun is stolen from a Romanian museum an ancient power is awakened, the true nature of which is known only to the nefarious madman who has stolen it, and historian Dr. Samantha Gaines (Emmanuelle Vaugier). The criminal wants to use the breastplate to find the ancient Sword of Mars, guarded by an infamous monster--the three-headed dog Cerberus--which is ultimately where the forces of good and evil must converge.

Recognize the actors, or the director?  This is a typical SciFi channel production - cgi, paper actors and actresses, transparent story.  Fans and critics alike found it to be watchable, but less than remarkable.  Its the modern-horror bigman Lionsgate putting this on the shelf.  With a budget estimate of $2 million, looks like someone's taking a loss on this one.

Click here to get it from Amazon.com

The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)
87 minutes

Unrated
Starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Michael Cole
Directed by Alan Gibson

Yahoo Movies Description:  In this modern update of the Dracula saga, Count Dracula (Christopher Lee) leads a Satanic cult of prominent scientists and politicians into developing a gruesome plague virus. His only obstacle is his old nemesis Lorimar Van Helsing (Peter Cushing). The Count poses as an isolated billionaire, and holds hostage Van Helsing's granddaughter (Joanna Lumley). Though Van Helsing does not realize that his arch enemy is the same person responsible for the plague, but sets about trying to rescue his granddaughter. When he uncovers the truth behind the secret identity - will he stop the villain once and for all?

Starring horror legends Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, whose accomplishments are too long to list.  Hammer horror, polished and well done.  This film has been released several times before, and has other titles such as Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride, Dracula is Alive and Well Living in London, and Rites of Dracula.   Small note:  Amazon.com says its 60 minutes in length, but by all other accounts, this film is listed at 87 minutes.  Majority rules.

Click here to get it from Amazon.com