celluloid consommé

  Title card still courtesy of Welcome Villain Films. Malum  as an original property based on director DiBlasi’s earlier entry  Last Shift  brings a more fleshed-out background for the horror film’s mysteries. Much like the 2014 original, we spend our time with rookie police officer Jessica Loren, here played by Jessica Sula ( Split ,  Godless ), during the final shift in an abandoned precinct — the very one Jessica’s father worked in prior to a sudden shooting he committed before taking his own life. Jessica sees the opportunity to reconnect with her father and try to understand what might have been going through his head in those final moments but of course she finds nothing but that on her very first job. The experience of  Malum  feels very much like a guided tour through a haunted house in some places but in this sense the approach doesn’t detract. Rather it adds to the openness yet claustrophobic feel of being the only one in an empty building wh...

The steampunk wuxia film arrives next week on DVD and Blu-Ray from Well Go USA. Pack shot of DVD and Blu-Ray boxes and discs courtesy of Well Go USA. Daniel Lee, director of  Black Mask ,  Dragon Blade,  and  14 Blades  has seen his passion project  Code of the Assassins  through to a streaming premiere on Hi-Yah!’s digital platform and is getting the Blu-Ray treatment from Well Go USA. It’s a wonky film first and foremost but has some really satisfying action sequences that honestly make it all worth it in the midst of everything it tries to do for its too-long runtime. But in the end this film has a lot to offer martial arts fans and will have you cheering during its ridiculous and over the top action sequences. Press enter or click to view image in full size Blu-Ray box back shot courtesy of Well Go USA. Video Code of the Assassins  often looks quite beautiful with some really nicely staged shots and sequences. The disc is an AVC encoded transf...

The Indonesian action film gives the Mahabharata the superhero treatment in this Hi-Yah! Original on physical media. Box and disc art courtesy of Well Go USA. Well Go USA is releasing Hanung Bramantyo’s latest film,  Legend of Gatotkaca  or,  Satria Dewa: Gatotkaca , onto DVD and Blu-Ray later this month. It’s an action-adventure epic that takes its cues from the giant superhero films of late, spinning Indonesian mythology from the Mahabharata into its core DNA. The film follows Satrio, a young man struggling to care for his troubled mother at home amidst losing his job. He stumbles into a world of good versus evil and battles with the implications that he is a descendant of the powerful  Gatotkaca  from the Pandawa/Pandava family, who have been fighting the forces of the Kurawa/Kaurava since the beginning of time. Gatotkaca  opens on the beginning of Satria’s legend, as he and his brother are raised in a small village by his mother. They are visited by Asw...