DVD Review: The Farewell Party

The Farewell Party is an excellent film dealing with questions of aging, assisted suicide, and the amount of control we have, or should have, over our lives, including how they’ll end. While the subject might sound heavy, the film has a sincere humor at moments, and it is beautifully acted and lovingly shot. Sure, you may be in tears at times, but you’ll also be laughing out loud at other times, as you come to care about this film’s characters.

The movie opens quietly, the camera approaching a man from behind as he makes a phone call. And we see an elderly woman who, with the help of her walker, goes to answer the phone. Then suddenly, a large, echoing voice on the phone calls out the woman’s name, “Zelda.” The woman asks, “God?” And we see both sides of the conversation, as she tells the man she believes to be God that her cancer is back, and the man, who is not God, tells her to be strong, not to give up. He tells her there currently aren’t any vacancies in heaven, and so she should continue her treatments. The man, Yehezkel, a retired inventor, is doing what he can to help her live, while his wife, Levana, lingers behind his chair, clearly supportive.

The film takes place mainly in a retirement home where the residents find they really have to help each other out, that there isn’t much help or understanding coming from outside their small world. The film establishes this by not developing many outside characters, and keeping the perspectives that of the residents of the retirement community. Soon we meet Max, another elderly man being cared for, but clearly suffering. When Yehezkel and Levana go to visit him, Max tells them, “Help me get it over with.” Yana, his wife, wants to help him die, saying, “They’re keeping him alive as though dying is a crime.” While dying might not be a crime, assisting a suicide is, and so they are unsure at first how to proceed, or if they in fact should proceed. Death is obviously on the minds of those who dwell in the retirement community, even on Levana’s mind, as she is intent on passing on one of her recipes to her grown daughter.

Though Levana disapproves, Yehezkel decides to build a suicide machine based on one he sees on the internet, and a small group of friends help Max commit suicide. But then soon another man comes to them, asking for help. The man, Dubek, threatens to turn them in to the authorities if they don’t help him, making him less of a sympathetic character, though of course we understand his desperation.

There are many heart-wrenching moments in this film, like when Levana, who is beginning to suffer from dementia, doesn’t recognize Yehezkel, and keeps repeating that she wants her husband, while he is seated right there beside her. The only weak moment in the movie is the sequence where suddenly many of the characters each sing a portion of a song. This is obviously taken straight out of Magnolia, and it is for that reason that it pulled me out of the story momentarily; also, the sequence wasn’t far enough into the film to have the emotional impact that it did in Magnolia. But other than that, this is an excellent and engaging film.

The Farewell Party was written and directed by Sharon Maymon and Tal Granit, and was released on DVD on September 22, 2015 through First Run Features. The film is presented in its original Hebrew with English subtitles. The DVD contains no special features.

DVD Review: Meeting ISIL

I’d been deliberately avoiding all news reports of the group called ISIS, in an effort to remain relatively sane. When I hear the word “Isis,” I prefer to think of that excellent Bob Dylan song from the Desire album. But while ignorance may be bliss, my love of documentary films overrode my desire for such bliss, and I popped Meeting ISIL into my DVD player. While the DVD cover has the title as Meeting ISIS, the title on screen is Meeting ISIL. ISIL stands for Islamic State Of Iraq And The Levant, while ISIS stands for Islamic State Of Iraq And Syria, but both are the same group.

Meeting ISIL is a documentary which takes a look at the group, and at the various other factions in the war in Syria. The film opens with a man talking about an operation involving a truck, and then in a wide shot we see the truck explode. The question I immediately had was, Where did this footage come from? That’s a question I had throughout the film, one which is never really answered. A narrator provides just a bit of background information on the area, and then, as we see soldiers letting a car pass, says that soldiers at checkpoints act differently “when strangers with cameras are present.” But why were they allowed to film? And who is doing the filming? Then we see different footage of trucks being stopped at a checkpoint on a Syrian road, and the narrator tells us things look different “when the camera belongs to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.” And indeed, we see the drivers questioned and then executed on the side of the road. But again, there is no mention of where exactly this footage came from. And there is brief footage of an operation at night, but again with no explanation of what it is exactly that we’re seeing.

What is interesting is that operations are recorded and shared on the internet in social media forums (including You Tube and Twitter, and perhaps that is where some footage comes from). Members of ISIL use the internet to get their messages across. The narrator tells us, “Syria has been the most socially mediated civil conflict in history, and the ISIL knows how to use the social media networks to recruit fighters.” It’s also interesting to learn that the al-Nusra Front and ISIL run all the basic services in certain areas, controlling food distribution and even running schools. There is quite a bit of interesting footage, but the film needs to provide more information. I didn’t have enough background information to fully appreciate what I was seeing. The film fails to even define some terms that are used often, such as “Sharia” and “Caliphate.”

The narrator tells us the filmmakers were allowed to film in one of the al-Nusra Front’s training camps in Syria, and one of the men interviewed there is from Morocco (men from many different nations have come there to fight). But the footage of the training camp shows just three guys walking across dirt holding guns. There is no real training, no one there to train them, at least none that we can see, and not even any evidence of a camp. It’s weird. It seems posed. There is also an interview with a man named Abu al-Hefz Sury, who was a member of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, but now is fighting with the al-Nusra Front. He holds a gun throughout the interview, and is at some kind of post somewhere. Oddly, the voice of the interviewer is disguised throughout the film. Why? It seems odd that it’s the filmmaker who wishes to remain hidden. The film has no credits whatsoever. So how are we to trust the information? Who made this film?  By the way, this film is less than an hour long, but interestingly there is a two-hour version of it available on You Tube. Perhaps that longer version provides more information? It doesn’t provide any credits (I checked).

Meeting ISIL is scheduled to be released on DVD on September 29, 2015 through MVD Visual. The DVD contains no special features.

DVD Review: Queen Crab

Queen Crab tells the story of a giant crab that terrorizes the denizens of a small town but has a special relationship with one woman who wishes to protect it. It opens twenty years ago, when a young girl named Melissa finds a crab at the edge of a lake, names it Pee Wee, and feeds it something from her father’s lab. Her father is a scientist who is working on a growth formula to find a solution for world starvation. An explosion in the lab kills both of Melissa’s parents, and her uncle takes care of her, telling her that her pet crab will be okay on its own for a while.

In the present day, Melissa (Michelle Simone Miller) is now a tough chick still living on the same property. And Pee Wee has grown quite a bit in the intervening decades and has begun to raise a family, a family that needs to be fed. A farmer named Phil discovers one of his livestock has been killed and a large hole has been torn into the side of his barn. The sheriff and deputy follow the odd tracks to Melissa’s property. And Jennifer (Kathryn Metz), a childhood friend and now B-movie actor, comes to town to see Melissa. Jennifer asks her what she does, and Melissa responds: “I take care of the property. I protect the things that live here. I keep people away.”

That’s a nice bit of dialogue, and actually quite a bit of the dialogue in this film is good. Sure, some of it is weak, and the acting isn’t always perfect, and there is some less-than-stellar looping. But the film is full of interesting small town characters that are not quite stereotypes (but which play a bit with stereotypes). The scene where the hunting party awaits its prey is particularly good. But the star of the film is the stop-motion animation of the giant crab.

Queen Crab should delight those folks who are old enough to remember monster movies before CG came along and took over and ruined everything. It brings me back to those wonderful, fun movies I’d watch on Saturday afternoons growing up. And for those who are younger, here is a chance to take a break from all the crappy CG movies you’ve likely been drowning yourselves in. There are other elements to remind you of older films, including a few side wipes to transition between scenes. And the opening titles sequence features some humorous appearances by an animated crab. The movie has charm and humor, and even a bit of heart, and it looks pretty damn good. But perhaps what I love most about this film is the relationship between the crab and Melissa.

Special Features

The DVD includes a commentary track by writer/director/producer Brett Piper, producer/actor Mark Polonia, actor Steve Diasparra, and technical assistant Anthony Polonia. They talk about shooting on a low budget (including shooting a scene of four actors with only one microphone), about the locations, and about the effects shots (I appreciate when they speak out against computer graphics). Also included in the special features is Queen Crab Consequences, a behind-the-scenes look at the film (focusing on the crab itself, in a playful way), which features interviews with Mark Polonia, Michelle Simone Miller, AJ Delucia, Rich Lounello, Ken Vansant, Steve Diasparra. Queen Crab Conversations also offers behind-the-scenes information, featuring more from some of the same interviews, with actors talking about their characters and experiences. Composing Crabs is a look at the score for the film, featuring an interview with composer Jon Greathouse. The special features also include the film’s trailer and four minutes of outtakes.

Queen Crab was written and directed by Brett Piper, and is scheduled to be released on DVD on September 29, 2015 through Wild Eye Releasing.

DVD Review: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Games Ponies Play

Good news, Bronies and Pegasisters! Shout! Factory is releasing a new My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic DVD, Games Ponies Play, which includes six episodes of the series. Each of the episodes deals in one way or another with competition and teamwork. So join Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Spike and, of course, Pinkie Pie (my favorite character) in six adventures.

“Fall Weather Friends”

In this first season episode, Rainbow Dash loses a game of horseshoes to Applejack, and of course has trouble accepting defeat, and so challenges Applejack to an athletic competition. Twilight Sparkle is recruited as judge, and Spike volunteers to be the announcer. (Though he does say it’s the “first annual Iron Pony competition,” which is incorrect: something is not an annual event until it happens the second time.) Applejack reminds Rainbow Dash that it’s all in good fun, but becomes just as competitive, and accuses Rainbow Dash of cheating, leading to another challenge. And this time Pinkie Pie works as the announcer, and as usual provides most of the episode’s comedy, like when she randomly mentions fudge or when she judges distance by noses or fractions of noses. Twilight Sparkle says, “Remember, Rainbow, this is just a game.” A good lesson for adults as well as children to keep in mind.

“Games Ponies Play”

Princess Cadence wants the ponies to work as the welcome committee to help convince the games inspector to let the Crystal Empire host this year’s Equestria Games. But the gang accidentally welcomes the wrong pony. Pinkie Pie gives her a tour of the castle: “Round is round, am I right?” When asked a question to which she doesn’t have the answer, Pinkie Pie tries to distract her with a goofy dance (that usually works for me). Later she tries to solve everything by offering a cinnamon bun. Meanwhile Rarity has trouble with Princess Cadence’s hair style, and is completely hilarious when freaking out. This episode aired in the third season.

“Power Ponies”

This fourth season episode is my personal favorite from this DVD, and one of the best episodes of the series. Spike recounts the exciting story of a comic book to Twilight the night before they’re supposed to fix up an old castle. The next day, Spike feels a bit left out, as the ponies don’t seem to need his help, and there’s a wonderful running joke equating Spike with Humdrum, an ineffectual sidekick character in the comic book. But then Spike is magically sucked into the comic book, along with the ponies, who try to help pull Spike out. All are sucked in, except Pinkie Pie, who willfully, gleefully jumps in, a moment that made me burst out laughing. (Have I mentioned that Pinkie Pie is my favorite character?) The ponies enter an alternate reality where they take on the identities of the power ponies from the comic book. Pinkie Pie and Rarity are particularly funny in how they choose to use their new super powers. This is a totally delightful episode.

“Equestria Games”

Also from the fourth season, “Equestria Games” finds the ponies going to compete. And Spike is treated like a hero because of his earlier exploits. He is asked to light the torch at the opening ceremony, but nerves get the best of him. Poor Mr. The Dragon. This episode also has a humorous moment regarding security measures. This is the only episode on the DVD to include a musical number of sorts, and it’s one of the funniest moments of the episode.

“Appleoosa’s Most Wanted”

In this fifth season episode, Applejack is competing in the Appleoosa Rodeo, and the young ponies are hoping to get their cutie marks. Meanwhile, the sheriff is after a mysterious outlaw named Trouble Shoes. There’s a nice little joke involving a harmonica. And the young ponies go looking for Trouble Shoes, who is voiced by Jim Miller.

“The Lost Treasure Of Griffonstone”

This fifth season episode opens with Pinkie Pie, so right away it’s a good one. Her pet alligator is hilarious in his complete silence, working in great contrast to the energetic Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie’s cutie mark summons her to Griffonstone, along with Rainbow Dash. Twilight Sparkle clearly wants to tag along, as she’s researched the kingdom and learned that it’s supposed to be the most majestic in all the land. But when Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash arrive, they discover that it’s fallen on hard times, leading Rainbow Dash to comment, “Maybe the map should have called Rarity instead of us.” And soon they learn the sad tale of the loss of the griffons’ treasure. This is a really good episode.

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: “Games Ponies Play” is scheduled to be released on September 29, 2015 through Shout! Factory. The DVD contains no special features.

DVD Review: Stand

Stand is a suspenseful drama about a gay couple who witness what they believe is a gay-bashing incident, and begin conducting their own investigation.

The film opens with a black screen, and we hear the voices of two men, one of whom says he took a wrong turn. And then we see them; or, rather, we see one of them: Anton, in the passenger’s seat. It’s an interesting introduction, because it stresses the idea of the wrong turn before we even see the characters. And though it’s Vlad (Andrey Kurganov) who took the wrong turn, for the rest of the scene it’s Anton (Renat Shuteev) that we see, as the camera remains focused on him for the entire scene. Anton teases Vlad about the wrong turn, which will take them by his old high school, hinting that Vlad misses his childhood.

Because the whole scene is one shot focusing on the passenger, we catch a glimpse of what occurs outside the passenger window (but could easily miss it as well, which is perhaps the intention). Anton sees the beating, and tells Vlad to stop the car. Anton wants to help, but Vlad says they should call the police instead of risking getting hurt or killed themselves. He starts the engine again when someone bangs on the car. The scene ends with Anton’s look at Vlad as they leave the area – a look of surprise, disappointment, anger, a look that speaks of a sudden chasm opening between them. What a strong opening for the film. (And obviously, the shot had to be carefully timed and rehearsed.)

The movie then shows us an ordinary scene in the morning over breakfast, and the love they have for each other is clear. Anton then goes about his day, helping various elderly women. I love how he’s close enough with the women he cares for that he doesn’t hide his sexual orientation from them, and is almost playful with them about it. For example, in one scene, a woman is watching sports on television and she asks Anton if it’s true that gay men can recognize each other as gay, and Anton replies yes and, glancing at the television, says, “I see nothing but them on the field.” The camera movement feels natural throughout all of this, like it’s catching bits of life rather than orchestrating it.

At night over drinks, one of Vlad and Anton’s friends mentions a young guy who was brought into the hospital after a beating near the school and is now in a coma. Anton is sure it’s the boy they saw and didn’t save. And soon Anton and Vlad learn that the boy has died, and Anton feels impelled to launch his own investigation, to become involved after the fact since he was stopped from becoming involved at the time. And we as viewers are torn – we want to learn more, but want him to be safe, simultaneously taking up the positions of both Anton and Vlad. What’s great is that we only saw the incident from inside the car. We know no more than they do. We’re not even sure of what we saw. So how can they be sure?

As Anton’s obsession grows, Vlad gets sucked in too, more because of his passion for Anton rather than his belief that they will solve this crime. It seems like play for him, like when he tells Anton they should come up with a name for their secret operation. I couldn’t help but think back to the opening, about that one wrong turn and the idea of Vlad wanting to return to childhood. Perhaps it’s true, and perhaps that’s part of why he plays along with Anton’s investigation. With the walkie-talkies and binoculars and so on, it is like a childhood game.

But perhaps they have stumbled onto something. I love the way the film slowly builds until you suddenly start fearing for Anton’s safety yourself. There is a tense scene as Anton waits on a bench for the person the boy was supposed to have met the night of his murder, the filmmakers allowing the scene to go on long enough that we feel both nervous for Anton and that he might be wasting his time. But the film is more about their relationship, and how that wrong turn and this quest have affected it, and have affected Anton in particular.

Stand is presented in its original Russian language, with English subtitles. It was directed by Jonathan Taieb, and was released on DVD on August 4, 2015 through TLA Releasing. The DVD includes the film’s trailer.

DVD Review: Watchers Of The Sky

Watchers Of The Sky is a powerful, heart-rending documentary on genocide, and on the people who have worked to prevent it. The film focuses on the work of Raphael Lemkin, the man who coined the word genocide, and on Samantha Power, Emmanuel Uwurukundo, Luis Moreno Ocampo and Ben Ferencz, who have all contributed in major ways to the struggle against genocide.

The film was inspired by A Problem From Hell: America And The Age Of Genocide by Samantha Power,  and she is the main voice of the film, functioning both as the voice of experience and also as a sort of narrator. She became a war correspondent when, fresh out of college, she saw images of the concentration camps in Bosnia. She talks about how historically people have gotten away with mass exterminations. “Lemkin’s point – that you have to create the impression that perpetrators will be watched, that they will be accountable in some fashion.”

Raphael Lemkin was a Polish Jew who suffered dislocation in his youth during World War I. At a very young age, he became interested in exterminations, particularly about how the Armenians were killed by the Turks, and how a survivor then hunted down the man responsible and killed him. That man was then tried for murder, and Lemkin wondered, “Why is the killing of a million a lesser crime than the killing of an individual?” In his early twenties, he decided to work toward inventing international law to ban the practice of destroying ethnic groups. And this was before World War II, before the Holocaust, before he lost his entire family. In fact, in 1933 he read his paper at an international meeting of lawyers, but was told the crime of mass exterminations happened so infrequently, and not in Europe, so they weren’t interested. Throughout the film, Lemkin’s words appear on screen, almost like dark and moving poetry.

Also interviewed in this film is Ben Fenecz, former prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, and the film does include some footage of him at Nuremberg from 1947, where he used the world genocide in his opening statement. At the age of fifty he decided to try to reform the world, to prevent the next holocaust, working to have “war-making, called the Crime of Aggression, prosecutable by international law,” as a title card tells us. Emmanuel Uwurukundo is the field director for the United Nations Refugee Agency in Chad, overseeing three refugee camps on the border with Darfur, Sudan with nearly sixty thousand refugees. And one of the most horrifying moments of the film is when he recounts how his own family was killed. Luis Moreno Ocampo is a former chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court. “My fear is Dafur could be forgotten,” he says at one point, reminding of us how Hitler was reported to say that the Germans would be able to get away with their plans because no one remembers the Armenians.

There is a lot of excellent footage in the film. One shot that stands out is of a long line of refugees marching during World War II, which gradually segues into a shot of refugees from the former Yugoslavia marching in 1992, showing that this does indeed happen again and again. The film includes footage from 1995, when the Serbs marched into a city, separating its citizens by gender and age, all the while assuring them calmly, “Nobody will harm you.” And we see the people complying. It’s frightening, because it’s so clearly the same as what we know about how the Nazis worked. And it’s followed by footage of the army then executing the men and boys.

Watchers Of The Sky is at times uplifting, at times depressing, but always effective. It’s fascinating to see how Lemkin had to go about getting the United Nations to recognize genocide in times of peace as a crime. In 1948, the convention was adopted, and you feel so much relief as you watch. But that is almost exactly halfway through the film, and you know that genocide has yet to be eradicated.

Special Features

The DVD contains some bonus footage, including more footage of Ben Fenecz at the United Nations, where he speaks with some people about committees and also addresses the assembly. There is also footage shot at a Darfurian rebel safe house, including interviews with a man who lost his eye and with a thirteen-year-old soldier.

The special features also include interviews with Raphael Lemkin’s friends and family members, including Sam Lemkin, Florence Levy, Nancy Steinson Ehrlich, Abe Bolgats and Ruth Wetter. These give us more information about Lemkin as a person, about his poverty and his meeting with Eleanor Roosevelt. Also included is the film’s trailer.

Watchers Of The Sky was directed by Edet Belzberg, and was released on DVD on February 17, 2015 through Music Box Films.

DVD Review: Killing Jimmy Hoffa

Killing Jimmy Hoffa is a documentary that takes a look at the life and times and disappearance of labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa. The first half of the film focuses on his life, while the second half focuses on his disappearance, and the various theories of what happened to him.

The first half of the film relies on interviews with authors and enthusiasts, including writer/director Al Profit himself, who is identified as “historian.” Putting himself in the film is a major mistake for Profit. He’s just not someone you believe or trust. He’s certainly enthusiastic about his subject, but doesn’t come across with any kind of authority whatsoever. So you feel the whole thing is put together by amateurs. He should have at least hired a professional narrator to deliver the lines he wrote for himself. And really a lot of this section of the film is just speculation. Those interviewed say things like, “Hoffa was most likely involved in car bombings” and “Supposedly Hoffa asked his new friend Santo Perrone to hold his goons back.” Profit himself says, “I think Jimmy Hoffa used the mafia and other organized crime the same way he used everybody else.” Okay, but why should we care what he thinks? Later he says, “I think the Kennedys were definitely playing both sides of the fence when it came to organized crime.” You can’t say you think something definitely happened; it just doesn’t make sense. Plus, again, this is just speculation, and speculation by the filmmaker at that (a person who clearly is not a fan of the Kennedys).

Of course, the story itself is fascinating, involving the mafia and unions and the United States government. It has all the intrigue you could hope for. But the film has no authority; or at least it feels as if it doesn’t. It uses stock footage, as well as archival footage. But the archival footage, for the most part, is not properly identified, so often we’re not sure just what we’re seeing. A lot of the footage in the first half is without sound, while those interviewed offer opinions. But there is some footage that plays with sound, like Bobby Kennedy questioning Hoffa about something he said, and some footage of Hoffa speaking about the strength of his organization. But when and where was that footage of Hoffa shot? And for what purpose? The film mentions the pardon that Richard Nixon gave Hoffa in 1971, and I wish it investigated that a little more, because that is certainly interesting.

The second half of this documentary, the half dealing with Hoffa’s disappearance, is so much better than the first half. That is because it relies more on people who were closer to the story, such as retired FBI members and a federal prosecutor whose unit was charged with investigating Hoffa’s disappearance, rather than on people who are simply interested in the subject. And Profit himself appears less frequently in the second half. Though he does provide the movie’s final lines: “They don’t make men like Jimmy Hoffa anymore. At least not in America.” Just what does he mean by that anyway? What’s interesting about the second half is that it goes through each of the possible suspects in the case, and also delves into several theories about what happened. We’re even treated to a bit of audio from an interview Dan Moldea did with Sal Briguglio and his lawyer Bill Buffalino. Though of course at the end, we haven’t really learned anything new.

By the way, the cover of the DVD, just under the film’s title, says, “40th Anniversary Edition.” Just to be clear, this is the not the fortieth anniversary edition of this film, as that would suggest. Rather, it’s been forty years since Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance.

Killing Jimmy Hoffa was written and directed by Al Profit, and was released on DVD on July 21, 2015 through MVD Visual.

DVD Review: Blood Punch

Blood Punch is a delightfully twisted thriller about a young man who gets caught up in a plan to make a whole hell of a lot of crystal meth in one day. And then that one day is a day that he just can’t seem to escape. It stars Milo Cawthorne as Milton, and the film opens with him waking and heading to the bathroom, only to find a computer in the tub with the note “Play me now” attached to it. When he does, he sees a video of himself on the screen, and his screen self cuts off two of his own fingers, then says, “Now that I have your attention, you need to listen very carefully to what I’m about to tell you.” That is the pre-title sequence, and I am totally hooked.

Then his video self begins to tell a story, and we go back in time a bit, and the film becomes the story he is telling. The only problem with that is that in the opening sequence his video self says, “You do not have time,” so it feels a bit weird that he would then tell a rather long story. That’s really the film’s only weakness, and later on it sort of makes sense. Anyway, Milton is in a rehab center, where he meets Skyler (Olivia Tennet), an interesting young woman who is there to find someone to make a lot of crystal meth for her. She tells the others in the group: “I noticed when I was on the drug I was more alert, more productive, felt better, stayed thinner, and could fuck like my ass was on fire for thirty-six hours straight.” And soon Milton, clearly attracted to her, is helping turn over-the-counter medication into crystal meth.

Skyler pitches an opportunity to him: help her and her boyfriend make a lot of crystal meth for just one day, and make a lot of money. She warns him that her boyfriend is the devil, and she leaves the room when she hears him enter the rehab center, telling Milton, “I have to make sure he doesn’t kill anybody.” She’s too late for that. Her boyfriend, Russell (Ari Boyland), is dressed in a police uniform, and Skyler clearly fears him. Some dialogue reveals she was twelve when she met him. He says he’s just quit the force, but you can’t help but wonder if perhaps he stole the uniform and car. If not, you wonder just how he used his position of authority when he met twelve-year-old Skyler. It’s great that there is this twisted backstory, but don’t worry, the movie never gets too heavy.

The set-up is intriguing and original, and the dialogue is great. This movie pulls you into its world immediately. And things only get stranger from there. They break into a hunting lodge, which has all sorts of weapons on the walls. But more interesting to Milton is the scrapbook he finds, with old photos and newspaper clippings about cannibals and bloodbaths and cult suicides. And after he tries to kill Russell, things begin getting really weird, and the film becomes a sort of deranged version of Groundhog Day. But through all its twists and turns, this movie never lost me. It kept me on board for the whole damn glorious ride. That is due in part to the smart dialogue, but it’s also due to the cast, as the three leads are totally capable of making it all feel very real. I’m looking forward to watching this one again.

Special Features

The DVD includes several special features, including some deleted scenes. One of those scenes, “I Don’t Sing,” is a cute nod to horror fans who feel cheated by certain movies. It’s certainly not needed in the film, but is enjoyable as a deleted scene. In fact, I think the filmmakers made all the right choices here. None of the deleted scenes feels important enough to be placed back in. There is also a deleted opening title sequence, and an extended scene with the character Archer (Cohen Holloway).

The special features also include some early test footage, as well as outtakes from that test footage and a teaser trailer from that footage. There are also nine minutes of production outtakes, including some behind-the-scenes footage.

Blood Punch was written by Eddie Guzelian and directed by Madellaine Paxson. It looks like we can thank Power Rangers for this movie, as all three of the main cast members worked together on that show, and the writer wrote seven of that series’ episodes, and the film’s director wrote two episodes. I never thought I’d be glad that Power Rangers existed, but now I am. Blood Punch was released on DVD on September 1, 2015.