THE TERMINATOR (1984) 40TH ANNIVERSARY BLOW-OUT!!!

THE TERMINATOR (1984) d. James Cameron (USA)
TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991) d. James Cameron (USA)
TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES (2003) d. Jonathan Mostow (USA)
TERMINATOR: SALVATION (2009) d. McG (USA)
TERMINATOR: GENISYS (2015) d. Alan Taylor (USA)
TERMINATOR: DARK FATE (2018) d. Tim Miller (USA)

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Released in 1984, The Terminator captivated critics and audiences alike with its mind-blowing special effects, intriguing characters, and well-written time-travel storyline. Pitting a relentless killer android from the future against two ordinary humans with the fate of mankind lying in the balance, this whirlwind tour-de-force combined horror and sci-fi elements with breathtaking action sequences. Not bad for a film with an unproven director and an actor known more for his bulging biceps than his acting chops.

DAMIEN: OMEN II (1978) Blu-ray Review

Damien: Omen II (1978) d. Don Taylor (USA) (107 min)

Following the demise of his parents, young Damien Thorn (Jonathan Scott-Taylor) is adopted by his uncle Richard (William Holden), head of Thorn Industries, and his new wife Ann (Lee Grant). As the lad becomes a teenager, he and his cousin Mark (Lucas Donat) attend an illustrious military academy near Chicago where they are brought under the wing of taskmaster Sergeant Neff (Lance Henriksen). Meanwhile, the ruthless Paul Buher (Robert Foxworth), while also attempting to take Thorn Industries in a radical new direction of acquiring land in the Middle East for pennies and holding the world’s food supply hostage, starts to show a curious interest in Damien. The Antichrist is alive and well, with his key protectors in place to ensure his rise to power.

NIGHTMARES (1983) Blu-ray Review

Nightmares (1983) d. Joseph Sargent (USA)

Like most compendiums, this throwback to the portmanteau heyday of the early ’70s (and likely trying to recreate the windfall of 1982’s Creepshow) hits a mix of high and low points, emerging as an engaging slice of ’80s genre entertainment. Originally conceived as a television pilot for Universal, the studio apparently wasn’t willing to pony up the cash to launch the series, whereupon the surprising decision was made to give it a theatrical release. After enjoying moderate success in hardtops, an equally successful run on home video followed, and it now emerges on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout! Factory.

THE HORROR SHOW (1989) DVD/Blu-ray Review

Horror Show, The (1989) d. James Isaac (USA)

When word rolled around that Shout! Factory would be releasing a Lance Henriksen/Brion James horror flick from the late 80s, I was honestly perplexed at my ignorance of this title’s existence. I mean, I’ve seen a few movies in my time and of those that I haven’t seen, there’s usually a blip on the radar either through having seen the box art while combing the local video store’s aisles (pardon me while I weep for this younger generation that will never experience such pleasures) or reading back issues of various genre mags. After a bit of research, I realized I actually had heard of it, but under its international distribution title: House III: The Horror Show. Sean S. Cunningham, who produced the first two House films, explains on the audio commentary track that the foreign markets were more interested in the branding than the film. So, even though it bore no relation to its predecessors and doesn’t actually deal with a haunted house (unless you count Henriksen’s chatty furnace), The Horror Show became the third installment in the franchise for overseas distribution (leading to some confusion for U.S. audiences when Cunningham decided to make House IV in 1992).

THE VISITOR (1979) movie review

Visitor, The (1979) d. Paradisi Giulio (as Michael J. Paradise) (USA/Italy)

Ovido Assonitis, the visionary behind such schlock classics as Beyond the Door, Tentacles (and supposedly a goodly portion of Piranha II: The Spawning), wrote and produced this mind-blowing epic slice of cheese featuring an A-list cast in service of a sci-fi Christian parable comprised of equal parts The Omen, The Bad Seed, Rosemary’s Baby, Ice Castles, The Birds, Close Encounters, The Star Chamber and The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh.