Home Video
[Review] Run Away From ‘Grizzly Rage’!
When a film like 2007’s Grizzly Rage roars right out of the gate with a car filled with some of the most annoying people ever put to the screen, and you find yourself in excruciating pain – your skin crawling with repulsion for low IQ immaturity – the only thing left that might be redeeming is seeing them all torn to graphically violent pieces. Maybe watch them suffer, or get reduced to shredded limbs. Or meat, just danging in the choppers of a pissed off bear.
So is there any bloody redemption here for your time spent?
Hellllll no.
Its about four kids who hop into a rover they completely beat the shit out of before breaking down on their way to Saranac Grotto – an abandoned, chain link fenced, toxic waste dump. Its a barren stretch of woods with, of course, no cell service. While skidding all over the road for no reason, they run over and kill a baby grizzly cub. Momma grizzly immediately gets pissed and the froth mouthed, TV-movie caliber chase is on. All the while, back home, I’m sure whatever parent that owned the truck is hoping they die horrible deaths.
OK, I added that part in there. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they were.
Your bottom line: there’s a lot of emo goin around here while they run aimlessly through the woods. A LOT. They brood and pout and argue and pace, wrestling with their ruffled emotions, disturbed by sparse stock footage clips of a bear. Add in a lot of stupid decisions and high fives, guys fighting and rebonding with bro-fists, an independent soundtrack of songs that sound hand picked from American Idol… and supportive hugs. (Is this guy gonna cry!??) I’m telling you, because somebody has to warn you of this shit.
This is an early Sci-Fi (SyFy) production helmed by David DeCoteau (The Brotherhood series), a modern day Roger Corman who, in the last three years, has cranked out more cheese than Wisconsin – so whats to expect? Not much, and you don’t get much. Its an embarrassing spectacle of young adults attempting to define their feelings amidst their flight to survive. This is why I’d recommend it as intro-horror for younger ones – it doesn’t go over the top in any offensive departments. No nudity, no bad language, no sex, no graphic violence. There’s no visual stimulation here, aside from mud stained shorts and red lines on their faces from accidents in their tortured truck. CGI or otherwise.
Its energetic, silly, shiny, and edgy, if nothing else. But when the kills go down, its mostly just cheap 70’s style blood splatter stills on the camera lens. For serious horror film goers, don’t go near this. Its like the kid next door got a hold of a camera and went in the woods to make a “run away!” movie with his friends. If that really happens, have mercy and sit thru it, for them. But if you’re gonna choose to watch this after everything we just went through, damn, you’re a self abusive son of a b – and I’ve failed in my efforts to defend your tastes.
P.S. If you’re not a youngster wired to be prejudice against anything pre-2000, I highly recommend seeking out John Frankenheimer’s Prophecy (1979) for some adult caliber, violent, inside-out, monster bear, decapitation action.
Scream Factory brought Frank LaLoggia’s 1988 Halloween movie Lady in White to Blu-ray several years back, and now Vinegar Syndrome gives the film a 4K Ultra HD upgrade.
Vinegar Syndrome’s Lady in White 4K release is available now and shipping now!
Watch the trailer below and grab your copy from Vinegar Syndrome today.
This limited edition 4-disc 4K UHD/Blu-ray x 3 set comes with a spot gloss hard slipcase + slipcover combo (designed by Dylan Haley), includes a 40-page perfect bound book and is limited to 8,000 units. It is only available on their website and at select indie retailers.
The full Special Features package includes…
- 4-disc Set: 1x 4K Ultra HD (High Bitrate BD100) / 3x Region A Blu-ray
- 4K UHD presented in Dolby Vision High-Dynamic-Range
- Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative
- Presented in three versions: 126-min Pre-Release Director’s Cut (UHD+BD), the 118-min Extended Home Video Cut (BD), and the 113-min Theatrical Cut (BD)
- New group commentary track with writer/director Frank LaLoggia, alongside actors Lukas Haas, Joelle Jacobi, and Len Cariou for the Pre-Release Director’s Cut
- New commentary track with Frank LaLoggia, moderated by Scott Neumyer for the Extended Home Video Cut
- New commentary track with authors Emma Westwood and Stephen A. Russell for the Extended Home Video Cut
- Archival commentary track with Frank LaLoggia for the Extended Home Video Cut
- “Learning How to Fly” (10 min) – an interview with actress Karen Powell
- “A Snapshot in Time” (9 min) – an interview with actress Lisa Taylor
- “Human Touches” (6 min) – an interview with actress Lucy Lee Flippin
- “Still Relevant” (16 min) – an interview with actress Rose Weaver
- “75% Listening, 25% Editing” (9 min) – an interview with editor Steve Mann
- “Welcome to Willowpoint Falls” (6 min) – a location featurette hosted by Benjamin Scrivens, founder of Fright-Rags
- “Dream Talking: Looking Back” – a visual group commentary for the Pre-Release Director’s Cut with Frank LaLoggia, and actors Lukas Haas, Joelle Jacobi, and Len Cariou (103 min)
- Deleted Scenes with introduction and optional commentary by writer/director Frank LaLoggia (36 min)
- Behind-the-scenes footage with introduction and optional commentary by writer/director Frank LaLoggia (16 min)
- Extended behind-the-scenes footage (73 min)
- Introduction from the 20th anniversary dvd release
- Promotional ‘industry sales’ trailer (7 min)
- 40-page perfect bound book with essays by film historians Molly Henery, Mark H. Harris, and Heidi Honeycutt (limited edition only)
- Multiple radio spots
- Theatrical trailer
- Multiple TV spots
- Workprint trailers (7 min)
- Still gallery
- Reversible sleeve artwork
- English SDH subtitles
1962. Nine-year-old Frankie Scarlatti enjoys a homespun childhood in a rustic Western New York town. The entire community gets into the spirit of Halloween, but then two bullies prank Frankie by locking him in his school cloakroom, leaving him trapped for the night. Alone and afraid, his slumber is interrupted when the ghost of a little girl appears, and Frankie witnesses the specter of her murder by an unseen assailant. Later, while recovering at home, the girl’s ghost appears to him again. With help from his older brother, Frankie begins investigating the circumstances of her death. He soon discovers that her murder was one of several unsolved crimes connected to a local child-killer. As the town’s bucolic veneer fades and long-buried secrets and tensions bubble to the surface, all of the clues to the mystery seem to point towards a huge mansion inhabited by a reclusive woman known as “The Lady in White.”
A nostalgia-driven ghost story wrapped within an intricate murder mystery and coming-of-age drama, writer-director-composer Frank LaLoggia’s passion project Lady in White remains one of the most beautiful and original American horror films of the 1980s. Featuring acclaimed actors Alex Rocco (The Godfather), Len Cariou (Executive Decision), and Sydney Lassick (Carrie, The Unseen), it boasts the first starring role by Lukas Haas (Mars Attacks, Inception) as well as breathtaking photography by Academy Award® winner Russell Carpenter (True Lies, The Lawnmower Man). Vinegar Syndrome is honored to bring this genre masterpiece to 4K UHD, newly restored from its original 35mm camera negative and presented in three versions: its pre-release director’s cut, its extended home-video version, and its original theatrical version, along with an abundance of both new and archival extras.
Paul Lê wrote here on Bloody Disgusting back in 2023, “Over the years, fans have described this film as gateway horror, but they liken it more to The Watcher in the Woods than, say, Hocus Pocus or Casper. There are chilling moments that warrant its PG-13 rating.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.