Anchor Bay Upfront: June 2007

Three more titles, two of them quite good

By: Brad Brevet
Published: Sunday, June 17th 2007 at 9:33 AM

Another month of Anchor Bay Home Entertainment releases have come into the RopeofSilicon Labs and I actually dug two of these while the Masters of Horror collection really continues to evade my interest.

First up is a title I actually just reviewed and won't go over everything I had to say all over again, but here is a little snippet:

This odd little horror film is actually presented in a documentary style fashion as a group of college students set out to follow a Leslie Vernon (Nathan Baesel) who has invited them to document his story as he hopes to follow in the footsteps of such renown killers as Freddy Kruger, Jason Voorhees and Michael Meyers…

Fans of the horror genre will certainly find it entertaining because it is just as much a look at the classic horror films of old as it is a new movie of its own. Whether or not Leslie Vernon will make a sequel appearance really depends on script and in the case that he ever does make his way back to the big screen will certainly increase the cult status of Behind the Mask.

To read the full review and get the skinny on this horror/mockumentary click here, otherwise you can pick up a copy for yourself here.

Okay, I mentioned it in the opening paragraph, but I will say it again, these Masters of Horror collection of films don't interest me much at all. Some of them appear to be just gore for the sake of showing gore, but the one thread that seems to be universal are the ridiculous storylines and The Screwfly Solution is no different.

This film stars Jason Priestley and Elliott Gould and is directed by Gremlins helmer Joe Roth. The film tells the story of some sort of "alien" virus that is causing the sexual tendencies in males to turn violent. Of course this premise is silly enough, but I wish someone would explain to me why gay men don't seem to want to kill other gay men or why men suddenly just want to kill women as opposed to just women they are sexually attracted to. This all turns into one silly little ending that had me laughing.

Considering the Masters of Horror films are only 60 minutes long it isn't a complete burden but I am yet to be entertained. Along with the film you also get a couple of featurettes, a photo gallery and a commentary with the director and writer Sam Hamm (love that Dr. Seuss style name). You can pick up a copy for yourself if you so desire here.

Now, this is where reviewing all these Anchor Bay titles turns fun as Highland: The Search for Vengeance is a film I never would have watched otherwise, much like Hellboy: Blood and Iron. Animated films outside the world of Disney never seem to catch my interest, but I am starting to think I need to re-evaluate that idea since traditional animated films are becoming so shitty and these are actually quite entertaining.

Highlander builds off the movies of the same name centering on a warrior named Colin as he has searched for the last 2,000 years for Marcus Octavius, the man that killed his lover. Of course, as stories like this always go, he finds a second cause to fight for all in an effort to meet the same ends. The animation is fun and so is the story. However, I will say seeing animated characters have sex and nudity in an animated film has always seemed unnecessary and slightly disturbing I was able to overlook it and enjoy this pic.

On top of the 85 minute movie you also get a featurette, an interview with the director, a photo gallery and the teaser trailer. You can pick up a copy for yourself here.

• Hellboy: Blood and Iron
• May 2007
• March 2007