Editorials

5 Severin Blu-rays That Are Perfect for Halloween!

Published

6 years ago

October 5, 2018

Every Friday in October I am going to highlight 5 releases from some of my favorite Blu-ray labels that every horror fan needs in their collection for October. Think of it as a Christmas shopping guide, but with a Halloween slant.

In 2006 Carl Daft, David Gregory and John Cregan joined forces to launch Severin Films. Focusing on niche titles that for years had gone overlooked, including more than a few films that were considered to be lost, the company quickly started putting out some of the best physical media on the market. With restoration work that is second to none and special features that are produced with love and passion it’s no wonder the company has become a favorite for so many over the last 12 years. With a slew of wonderful titles to choose from it can be difficult limiting yourself, but I have done by best to hand select the 10 titles I think every horror fan should own.

In addition to their wide variety of Blu-rays, the company has some quality horror merchandise including shirts, dolls and enamel pins. They also have their DVD side of things in Intervision Picture Corp. Under that umbrella they’ve released a number of great DVDs including a personal favorite of mine, Beyond the 7th Door.

The Changeling (1980)

In this horrifying tale, George C. Scott stars as a man desperately trying to get over the loss of his wife and daughter who were killed in a terrible accident. Hoping to clear his head and work on his music — he’s an award-winning pianist — he moves into a large, old mansion. It doesn’t take long before a strange and eerie presence begins to haunt the house and unleash a horrific mystery.

This is the perfect film for Halloween. It features an old, creepy mansion and is reach with atmosphere. It’s one of those films that you watch in the dark and hearing the first note from the score — wonderfully done by Rick Wilkins — will instantly send chills down your spine. This was a first time watch for me recently and it’s been stuck with me ever since.

This recent release features a gorgeous HD transfer created from a 4K scan of the inter-positive film element. It’s an absolutely beautiful presentation and one of the best looking transfers I’ve seen in some time. In terms of special features, this bad boy is stacked:

Audio Commentary With Director Peter Medakand Producer Joel B. Michaels Moderated By Severin Films’ David Gregory
The House On Cheesman Park: The Haunting True Story Of The Changeling
The Music Of The Changeling: Interview With Music Arranger Kenneth Wannberg
Building The House Of Horror: Interview With Art Director Reuben Freed
The Psychotronic Tourist: The Changeling
Master of Horror Mick Garris On The Changeling
Poster & Still Gallery
Trailer
TV Spot

The wide range of special features offer up a bit of something for everyone, but the story on the House on Cheesman Park is the most fascinating.

Zombie 3 (1988)

A body infected with a chemical intended for warfare is cremated by the US military, accidentally spreading the virus across a small island. The islanders quickly turn into blood-thirsty zombies and group of soldiers and tourists try to fend off the vicious creatures.

The Zombie or Zombi series is all over the place. None of the films are really connected but it’s still safe to say they share more in common beyond their similar titles. This second, or possibly third entry depending on how you view it, was maybe directed by Lucio Fulci. It also could have been directed by Claudio Fragasso and maybe even Bruno Mattei got in on the mix. It’s likely that all three played a role in creating this beautiful mess of a film. This is a meaty, nasty little Italian gut-muncher that you either love or hate, and for by God do I love it.

The Severin release of Zombie 3 is the first ever uncut release in American and is presented in a 2K scan that looks quite impressive. There are a handful of moments throughout where the clarity gets a tad rough, likely a result of the available elements used, but odds are most people won’t notice those segments. The colors pop quite a bit and there are some lab sequences that look especially good. All the lovely Italian gore looks nice and gruesome, just as one would expect.

Special features for Zombie 3 include:

The Last Zombies – Interview With Co-Director/Co-Writer Claudio Fragasso and Co-Writer Rossella Drudi
Tough Guys – Interview with Actors/Stuntmen Massimo Vanni and Ottaviano Dell’Acqua
The Problem Solver – Interview with Replacement Director Bruno Mattei
Swimming with Zombies – Interview with Actress Marina Loi
In the Zombie Factory – Interview with FX Artist Franco Di Girolamo
Audio Commentary With Stars Deran Sarafianand Beatrice Ring
Trailer
Bonus Disc: CD Soundtrack

It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that we live in a world where Zombie 3 is even on Blu-ray, but then to have all these special features too? That’s nuts. The interview with Fragasso alone is worth the purchase. If you haven’t seen an interview with that dude you’re missing out. Also, the soundtrack rules, making the CD a sweet bonus.

Wild Beasts (1984)

PCP spills into the water supply and that water is eventually consumed by animals in a German zoo. The result? The animals turn into crazed lunatics that break out of the zoo and going on a killing spree.

Next to Jaws, Wild Beasts may very well be my favorite animals gone wild film. It’s such a crazy concept for a film. Animals go on a PCP-induced rage. This is a film that could only be conceived by Italian filmmakers. This is the perfect film to invite the friends over for on a Friday night, order a bunch of pizza and then just have a blast. If you can’t have fun with Wild Beasts, you can’t have fun with anything.

Special features:

Altered Beasts: Interview With Director Franco E. Prosperi
Wild Tony: Interview With Actor Tony Di Leo
Cut After Cut: Interview With Editor & Mondo Filmmaker Mario Morra
The Circus is in Town: Interview With Animal Wrangler Roberto Tiberti’s son, Carlo Tiberti
House Of Wild Beasts: A Visit to the Home of Franco E. Prosperi

The Amicus Collection

This wonderful boxset features three films — Asylum, And Now the Screaming Starts and The Beast Must Die! — from Amicus Productions. It also includes a fourth bonus disc called The Vault of Amicus, an original production from Severin that serves as a documentary of sorts on the history of the British horror factory know as Amicus.

Back in February, I called The Amicus Collection the first great Blu-ray of 2018, and now that we’re in October it may still stand as my favorite release of the year. All three films are wildly different. Asylum is a nutty anthology with a bizarre wrap around with a twist, And Now the Screaming Starts is a gothic thriller that borrows heavily from the more popular Hammer Horror and The Beast Must Die! is a Blaxploitation take on the werewolf subgenre. With this much variety in one box set, it’s hard to justify not buying this one. The box set was limited, however, which means you could have trouble finding it. In that case, individual copies of Asylum and And Now the Screaming Starts are available.

Asylum special features:

Two’s Company – Archival piece originally aired on BBC in 1972
David J. Schow on Robert Bloch
Fiona Subotsky Remembers Milton Subotsky
Inside the Fear Factory
Audio Commentary with director Roy Ward Baker and camera operator Neil Binnery, moderated by Marcus Hearn
Theatrical Trailer

And Now the Screaming Starts special features:

The Haunted History of Oakley Court
Audio Commentary with director Roy Ward Baker and actress Stephanie Beacham, moderated by Marcus Hearn
Audio Commentary with actor Ian Ogilvy, moderated by Darren Gross
Archive Audio Interview with Actor Peter Cushing by Denis Meikle
Horror Journalist Denis Meikle Recalls And Now the Screaming Starts
Theatrical Trailer
Radio spot

The Beast Must Die! special features:

And Then There Were Werewolves
Audio Commentary with Director Paul Annett, morderated by Jonathan Sothcott
Directing the Beast
Trailer

The Vault of Amicus special features:

Philip Nutman Audio Interview With Milton Subotsky
Jonathan Sothcott Audio Interview with Max Rosenberg
Audio Commentary with British Horror Film Writers Kim Newman and David Flint

The Devil’s Honey (1986)

A doctor is held captive by a young woman who believes he is responsible for the death of her boyfriend. In an effort to get revenge she subjects him to a number of sexual torture acts.

I prefaced this entire list by saying these are films that every horror fan should have, but I also understand that The Devil’s Honey is not forever one. This film was directed by Lucio Fulci, one of his later efforts, and when you’re dealing with Fulci people have a specific idea of what to expect. There should be gore and plenty of it. This isn’t that type of movie. This is an ultra-sleazy erotic thriller. It is not your standard Fulci, but it is so fascinating and has to be seen. And it stars Fulci regular, Brett Halsey.

The 2K restoration from the film’s original camera negative is uncut and uncensored and gives this trashy little treat a stunning presentation. The film pops when it should and contains plenty of that beautiful natural film grain that you always like to see.

Special features:

The Devil’s Halsey: An Interview with Actor Brett Halsey
Wild Flower: An Interview with Actress Corinne Clery
Producing Honey: An Interview with Producer Vincenzo Salviani
The Devil’s Sax: An Interview with Composer Claudio Natili
Stephen Thrower on The Devil’s Honey
Fulci’s Honey: An Audio Essay by Troy Howarth
Alternate Opening
Trailer

This great collection of interviews is highlighted by the Halsey. As an actor that worked with Fulci several times, the two developed a great friendship but it some rocky roads in the later part of Fulci’s career. It’s interesting to hear his take on the legendary filmmaker.

For more information and to purchase any of the mentioned titles please visit Severin-Films.com.

Chris Coffel

Chris Coffel is originally from Phoenix, AZ and now resides in Portland, OR. He once scored 26 goals in a game of FIFA. He likes the Phoenix Suns, Paul Simon and 'The 'Burbs.' Oh and cats. He also likes cats.

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Editorials

‘Amityville Karen’ Is a Weak Update on ‘Serial Mom’ [Amityville IP]

Published

11 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Joe Lipsett

Twice a month Joe Lipsett will dissect a new Amityville Horror film to explore how the “franchise” has evolved in increasingly ludicrous directions. This is “The Amityville IP.”

A bizarre recurring issue with the Amityville “franchise” is that the films tend to be needlessly complicated. Back in the day, the first sequels moved away from the original film’s religious-themed haunted house storyline in favor of streamlined, easily digestible concepts such as “haunted lamp” or “haunted mirror.”

As the budgets plummeted and indie filmmakers capitalized on the brand’s notoriety, it seems the wrong lessons were learned. Runtimes have ballooned past the 90-minute mark and the narratives are often saggy and unfocused.

Both issues are clearly on display in Amityville Karen (2022), a film that starts off rough, but promising, and ends with a confused whimper.

The promise is embodied by the tinge of self-awareness in Julie Anne Prescott (The Amityville Harvest)’s screenplay, namely the nods to John Waters’ classic 1994 satire, Serial Mom. In that film, Beverly Sutphin (an iconic Kathleen Turner) is a bored, white suburban woman who punished individuals who didn’t adhere to her rigid definition of social norms. What is “Karen” but a contemporary equivalent?

In director/actor Shawn C. Phillips’ film, Karen (Lauren Francesca) is perpetually outraged. In her introductory scenes, she makes derogatory comments about immigrants, calls a female neighbor a whore, and nearly runs over a family blocking her driveway. She’s a broad, albeit familiar persona; in many ways, she’s less of a character than a caricature (the living embodiment of the name/meme).

These early scenes also establish a fairly straightforward plot. Karen is a code enforcement officer with plans to shut down a local winery she has deemed disgusting. They’re preparing for a big wine tasting event, which Karen plans to ruin, but when she steals a bottle of cursed Amityville wine, it activates her murderous rage and goes on a killing spree.

Simple enough, right?

Unfortunately, Amityville Karen spins out of control almost immediately. At nearly every opportunity, Prescott’s screenplay eschews narrative cohesion and simplicity in favour of overly complicated developments and extraneous characters.

Take, for example, the wine tasting event. The film spends an entire day at the winery: first during the day as a band plays, then at a beer tasting (???) that night. Neither of these events are the much touted wine-tasting, however; that is actually a private party happening later at server Troy (James Duval)’s house.

Weirdly though, following Troy’s death, the party’s location is inexplicably moved to Karen’s house for the climax of the film, but the whole event plays like an afterthought and features a litany of characters we have never met before.

This is a recurring issue throughout Amityville Karen, which frequently introduces random characters for a scene or two. Karen is typically absent from these scenes, which makes them feel superfluous and unimportant. When the actress is on screen, the film has an anchor and a narrative drive. The scenes without her, on the other hand, feel bloated and directionless (blame editor Will Collazo Jr., who allows these moments to play out interminably).

Compounding the issue is that the majority of the actors are non-professionals and these scenes play like poorly performed improv. The result is long, dull stretches that features bad actors talking over each other, repeating the same dialogue, and generally doing nothing to advance the narrative or develop the characters.

While Karen is one-note and histrionic throughout the film, at least there’s a game willingness to Francesca’s performance. It feels appropriately campy, though as the film progresses, it becomes less and less clear if Amityville Karen is actually in on the joke.

Like Amityville Cop before it, there are legit moments of self-awareness (the Serial Mom references), but it’s never certain how much of this is intentional. Take, for example, Karen’s glaringly obvious wig: it unconvincingly fails to conceal Francesca’s dark hair in the back, but is that on purpose or is it a technical error?

Ultimately there’s very little to recommend about Amityville Karen. Despite the game performance by its lead and the gentle homages to Serial Mom’s prank call and white shoes after Labor Day jokes, the never-ending improv scenes by non-professional actors, the bloated screenplay, and the jittery direction by Phillips doom the production.

Clocking in at an insufferable 100 minutes, Amityville Karen ranks among the worst of the “franchise,” coming in just above Phillips’ other entry, Amityville Hex.

Amityville Karen

The Amityville IP Awards go to…

Favorite Subplot: In the afternoon event, there’s a self-proclaimed “hot boy summer” band consisting of burly, bare-chested men who play instruments that don’t make sound (for real, there’s no audio of their music). There’s also a scheming manager who is skimming money off the top, but that’s not as funny.
Least Favorite Subplot: For reasons that don’t make any sense, the winery is also hosting a beer tasting which means there are multiple scenes of bartender Alex (Phillips) hoping to bring in women, mistakenly conflating a pint of beer with a “flight,” and goading never before seen characters to chug. One of them describes the beer as such: “It looks like a vampire menstruating in a cup” (it’s a gold-colored IPA for the record, so…no).
Amityville Connection: The rationale for Karen’s killing spree is attributed to Amityville wine, whose crop was planted on cursed land. This is explained by vino groupie Annie (Jennifer Nangle) to band groupie Bianca (Lilith Stabs). It’s a lot of nonsense, but it is kind of fun when Annie claims to “taste the damnation in every sip.”
Neverending Story: The film ends with an exhaustive FIVE MINUTE montage of Phillips’ friends posing as reporters in front of terrible green screen discussing the “killer Karen” story. My kingdom for Amityville’s regular reporter Peter Sommers (John R. Walker) to return!
Best Line 1: Winery owner Dallas (Derek K. Long), describing Karen: “She’s like a walking constipation with a hemorrhoid”
Best Line 2: Karen, when a half-naked, bleeding woman emerges from her closet: “Is this a dream? This dream is offensive! Stop being naked!”
Best Line 3: Troy, upset that Karen may cancel the wine tasting at his house: “I sanded that deck for days. You don’t just sand a deck for days and then let someone shit on it!”
Worst Death: Karen kills a Pool Boy (Dustin Clingan) after pushing his head under water for literally 1 second, then screeches “This is for putting leaves on my plants!”
Least Clear Death(s): The bodies of a phone salesman and a barista are seen in Karen’s closet and bathroom, though how she killed them are completely unclear
Best Death: Troy is stabbed in the back of the neck with a bottle opener, which Karen proceeds to crank
Wannabe Lynch: After drinking the wine, Karen is confronted in her home by Barnaby (Carl Solomon) who makes her sign a crude, hand drawn blood contract and informs her that her belly is “pregnant from the juices of his grapes.” Phillips films Barnaby like a cross between the unhoused man in Mulholland Drive and the Mystery Man in Lost Highway. It’s interesting, even if the character makes absolutely no sense.
Single Image Summary: At one point, a random man emerges from the shower in a towel and excitedly poops himself. This sequence perfectly encapsulates the experience of watching Amityville Karen.
Pray for Joe: Many of these folks will be back in Amityville Shark House and Amityville Webcam, so we’re not out of the woods yet…

Next time: let’s hope Christmas comes early with 2022’s Amityville Christmas Vacation. It was the winner of Fangoria’s Best Amityville award, after all!

Amityville Karen movie