Still More Poseidon

I'm sure disaster fans were wondering what happened to that other Poseidon film which failed to earn a DVD release in the wake of the 2006 remake, but their prayers for mediocrity and melodrama par excellence have been answered - though not completely.

With less money and Michael Caine returning as Irwin Allen's main hero, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure is back in circulation from Warner Bros. in a pretty anamorphic transfer, with a vintage promo featurette and trailer - but none of the deleted scenes that appeared in the longer TV broadcast version. Sure, Beyond is not the finest film within Allen's oeuvre, but it deserves a definitive release, much in the way Fox' Towering Inferno SE came with its TV scenes.

Also reviewed is Rock Fresh, Danny Lee's snappy documentary on California graffiti artists who have progressed beyond tagging, and are now adults with real-life career hurdles, families, and a need for stable income. Find out if reality bites.


Technorati Tags: DVD Reviews, Poseidon Adventure, and California Graffiti.

The Return of Bigfoot

One would think few movies about a hairy humanoid creature exist - but a quick IMDB check says we've been blessed by quite a few, not to mention cousin Sasquatch, who appeared (through Ted Cassidy's stature) in The Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman episodes and cross-over shows.

Newly reviewed is Ryan Schifrin's feature film debut, Abominable, about Bigfoot traumatizing a paraplegic and nekkid girls in their respective mountain cabins. Anchor Bay's DVD is loaded with informative extras, while the orchestral soundtrack by Lalo Schifrin is also out on CD. (An audio interview with Ryan and father Lalo is available HERE, or at the director's myspace site.)

Also from Anchor Bay is The Norliss Tapes, derived from the same Kolchak/Night Stalker template that spawned two successful TV movies and a short-lived series. Norliss was designed by producer/director Dan Curtis as a pilot, but still works as a tight B-movie, with Invaders star Roy Thinnes as the supernatural debunker facing real-life weirdness.

Lastly, we've added a review of James Cameron's own feature film debut, Piranha 2: The Spawning. It's silly and amusing for all the right reasons, and years after The Abyss, one can see some familiarities between the marital discord shared by the lead characters in both films. Stelvio Cipriani's score for Piranha 2, released by DigitMovies on CD, is also reviewed HERE, as is a sidebar piece on Cameron's short film, Xenogenesis (which is viewable via a Film Threat link).

Technorati Tags: DVD Reviews, Ryan Schifrin, Bigfoot, Dan Curtis, Piranha, and James Cameron.