Creep Van
(2011/Inception DVD)/Collision Earth
(2011/Anchor Bay Blu-ray)/Daleks –
Invasion 2150 A.D. (1966/Doctor Who/Umbrella Region 4 Import DVD)/Kull The Conqueror
(1997/Universal/Umbrella Region Free Import Blu-ray)/Silent Night (2012/Anchor Bay Blu-ray w/DVD)
Picture: C+/B-/C+/B-/B-
& C Sound: C+/B-/C+/B-/B- &
C+ Extras: C-/D/B-/D/C- Main Programs: C-/C-/C+/D/C-
PLEASE NOTE: The Daleks Region 4 DVD will only play on
machines that can handle that version of the format, while and Kull Region Free Blu-ray has analog PAL
extras only PAL-capable Blu-ray players can handle. Both can be ordered from our friends at
Umbrella Entertainment at the website address provided at the end of the
review.
Now for
some genre releases that usually don’t work…
Scott W.
McKinlay’s Creep Van (2011) takes
place in Detroit
and involves a serial killer type who is using a van to get victims, but the
script is more interested in the gore and its own silliness than suspense. That is a shame because this had potential
and the van itself, which may or may not have something else going on with it
(possibly Satanic possession, but we never get any definite sign thereof) and
the result is the makers do not know how to take advantage of opportunities or
what to do with the genre. The result is
an occasionally interesting failure.
Extras
include a trailer, finance trailer, Deleted Scene, audio commentary track, actor
interviews and two making of featurettes.
Paul Ziller’s
Collision Earth (2011) also had some
potential, but it is yet another cynical, bad disaster genre telefilm that is
busier with its CG visual effects than telling a story, doing anything new or
being memorable on any level. Made by
yet another group of unknowns in Canada, it is very throwaway, not
very believable and pretty boring for the most part. There are no extras.
Gordon
Flemyng’s Daleks – Invasion 2150 A.D.
(1966) is the second of two theatrical films to feature Peter Cushing as Doctor
Who, though his Who is merely human, but has still built a time machine (it is
also a TARDIS phone booth) and a mixed sequel to 1965’s Doctor Who & The Daleks that has some amusing moments, but is
not as good as the first and did not do well enough to launch a series.
Still,
Flemyng can direct and this is still the best release on the list down to the
money put into the film at the time.
Aimed towards younger audiences, there is still plenty for all to see
and it is an ambitious effort just the same.
This nice new transfer is fun too and the supporting cast includes
Bernard Cribbins, Andrew Keir, Ray Brooks, Philip Madoc, Jill Curzon and
Rebecca Tovey.
Even if
the film is not always good, a terrific 1995 hour-long featurette called Dalekmania is also included and is a
must see for all Who fans.
Not even
on Blu-ray in the U.S. yet, John Nicoletta’s Kull The Conqueror (1997) is also known overseas as Son Of Conan and turns out to be
produced from a third actual Conan screenplay Arnold Schwarzenegger wise chose
not to shoot. A total mess of a
U.S./Italian co=-production, Kevin Sorbo is the title character, fighting
supernatural evil, et al and boring us all as much as the horrid
screenplay. Not even Tia Carrere (highly
underused here when all is said and done) can save this mess from itself
including lots of guys yelling “grrrrr” and trying to kill each other, plus
Harvey Fierstein as an oddball character and Thomas Ian Griffith rounding out
the wasted cast.
As you
may have heard, Schwarzenegger is finally doing a new Conan film out of nowhere
(and despite the recent new one not being so bad) with the caveat that it will
pick up where the first one left off.
That means we are supposed to forget Conan The Destroyer, Red
Sonya and this film. Yeeeeeeeeee.
Extras
include PAL format Original Theatrical Trailer, Motion Photo Gallery, Behind
The Scenes featurette and separate on-camera interviews with Sorbo and
Carrere. Yes, it is the worst release on
the list.
Finally
we have Silent Night (2012), not a
sequel to the Silent Night, Deadly Night
films, but it still has a Santa that goes around killing people. It also has Malcolm McDowell as a local top
police officer in the town where the slaughter begins, but he is not the
killer. Rarely with any sense of humor,
we get some graphic, matter-of-fact killings, but it is all somehow dumb,
pointless, uninteresting, formulaic and goes nowhere fast. A few moments work, but it is a loosing
battle and the one-note premise was played out long ago. Deleted Scenes and a Behind The Scenes clip
are the only extras.
The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on Earth and 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on
Night and Kull are all about even with the two new productions in HD and
latter, older film sot in the Super 35mm film format and sourced from an
older-but-serviceable HD master. All
have motion blur and detail issues, though Night
and Kull have some nice shots,
albeit brief. They tie for best picture
performance and are the three Blu-rays here.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on Daleks
actually has at least as many nice shots as any of the Blu-rays, though it can
also show its age and not all shots are good.
Originally lensed in 2-perferation Techniscope, original prints were
struck in a dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor and when it looks good, it is
very impressive. Such prints (even in
16mm) are very valuable today. That
leaves the anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Van looking as good as the Daleks
overall, but the DVD version of Night
is very soft, dark and has some of worst shots on this list.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Kull and Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mixes on Earth and Night have
inconsistent soundfields and are not great throughout, but represent the best
sound on the list and all again tie for first place. There is less to remember sonically
here. The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on Van and DVD of Night are not as impressive with sonic limits and very limited
soundfields, so the lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on Daleks, well recorded for its time, is actually as well recorded
and sounds very good for its age. That
DVD overall looks and sounds better than the U.S. out-of-print DVD from years
ago.
As noted above, you can order the import version of Daleks and Kull exclusively from Umbrella at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
- Nicholas Sheffo
