Kent Conrad

Cinema Sentries

Vera Cruz (1954) Blu-ray Review: Twisty Western Caper

Western set and shot in Mexico about two mercenaries betraying their employers, and each other, becoming friends along the way.

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Cinema Sentries

Dune (1984) 4K Ultra HD Review: Beautiful, Fascinating Mess of an Adaptation

A messy adaptation of a nearly unfilmable book has amazing production design and a beautiful 4K release.

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Cinema Sentries

Death Screams (1982) Blu-ray Review: Regional ’80s Slasher Artifact

Obscure ’80s North Carolina slasher movie offers a window into indie cinema history. Also, blood and boobs.

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Cinema Sentries

Children of the Corn (1984) 4K Ultra HD Review: Beating Up Kids in 4K

A rare early faithful adaptation of a Stephen King story shines in this new 4K restoration.

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Cinema Sentries

The Window (1949) Blu-ray Review: The Boy Who Cried Murder

Taut noir thriller about a story-telling boy who witnesses a real murder is brisk, engaging, and beautifully shot.

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Cinema Sentries

The Village Detective: A Song Cycle Movie Review: Meditation on Ruined Film

A documentary about four ruined reels of a Soviet film reveal truths about the intersection of cinema and history.

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The Cat O’ Nine Tails 4K Ultra HD Review: Convoluted Giallo Murder Mystery

Argento’s second film has some great set pieces, music, and cinematography, but is undermined by an overbusy script.

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Bugsy Malone Blu-ray Review: Bizarre and Charming Kiddie Gangster Musical

Alan Parker’s 1976 tribute to classical Hollywood and gangster stories cast entirely with children is finally on Blu-ray in America.

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The Bird with the Crystal Plumage 4K Ultra HD Review: Dario Argento’s Debut Giallo

Dario Argento’s stylish and assured directorial debut about a black-clad murderer stalking Rome comes to 4K.

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Hail to the Deadites Movie Review: Evil Dead’s Biggest Fans

A charming documentary about the most dedicated (read: obsessive) fans of the cult classic Evil Dead trilogy.

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Dead & Buried (1981) 4K Ultra HD Limited Edition Review: Uncovered ’80s Horror Gem

This take on the zombie genre by the writers of Alien is dripping with atmosphere and dread.

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I Wouldn’t Be in Your Shoes Blu-ray Review: Limp Mystery Noir

Based on a novella by Cornell Woolrich, this film takes a thin premise and does little with it.

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Irezumi (1966) Blu-ray Review: Revenge and Obsession

A tattoo transforms a geisha into a spirit of vengeance in this moody period drama from Yasuzo Masumura.

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Cinema Sentries

Drunken Master II Blu-ray Review: Pinnacle Chan Martial Arts

A solid (if bare bones) release of some of Jackie Chan’s most impressive martial arts antics.

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Cinema Sentries

The Final Countdown (1980) 4K Ultra HD Limited Edition Review: Great Planes, Great Set-up, No Story?

Beautiful release of a film with a great set-up, incredible aviation, and a frustrating story that doesn’t pay off.

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Django (1966) 4K Ultra HD Review: A Spaghetti Western Icon

The 4K release of the iconic, ultra-violent and ultra-stylish western directed by Sergio Carbucci that launched dozens of imitators.

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They Won’t Believe Me Blu-ray Review: Melodrama Noir

There are two elements normally present in a classic film noir. One is a main character, usually male, with decent instincts but a fatal flaw that drives him to do something terrible. That terrible thing is the other element, usually a crime, that sends the unfortunate into a tailspin that, whatever his intentions, is destructive,…

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Isle of the Dead (1945) Blu-ray Review: Atmospheric Chiller from Val Lewton

The second of Boris Karloff’s three movies with producer Val Lewton is an atmospheric chiller about disease, vampirism, and madness.

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Cinema Sentries

History Is Made at Night (1937) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: Love Crosses the Atlantic

Unabashed romance about a would-be divorcee and a Parisian who defends her against her husband, who is basically a supervillain.

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Perdita Durango 4K Ultra HD Review: An Evil, Evil Love Story

Alex de la Iglesia’s English language debut is released in the U.S. with 10 minutes of violence and sex restored.

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The Day of the Beast (1995) 4K Ultra HD Review: Surrealist Spanish Horror Comedy

Frequently hilarious, occasionally confusing but always entertaining, it’s a story about a priest defeating the anti-Christ… or going completely mad.

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Southland Tales Blu-ray Review: Strange but Strangely Compelling

Was the theatrical cut a film-breaking disaster that gutted a potential masterpiece, or was it a salvage job on a derelict film that was always destined for the junk heap?

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JSA: Joint Security Area Blu-ray Review: Death on the DMZ

Chan-wook Park’s early film about a murder on the Korean border is one of the filmmaker’s most mainstream thrillers.

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Tremors (1990) 4K Ultra HD Review: Monster Movie in Perfection

An extras-packed new release of the early ’90s monster movie that, in its very small way, is kind of perfect.

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Survivor Ballads: Three Films by Shohei Imamura Blu-ray Review: Stories of Hardship and Endurance

Imamura’s ’80s era films demonstrate the famed director’s realist and humanist outlook with a trenchant mix of tragedy and satire.

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Bartender (2006) Blu-ray Review: A Calming Aperitif of a Show

The 15th anniversary release of a slice of life anime all about the wondrous healing qualities of cocktails.

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Versus (2000) Blu-ray Review: Samurai Zombie Yakuza Action

More than 20 years after its initial release, this wildly energetic Japanese action-horror film gets an extra packed release.

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Crash (1996) Criterion Collection Blu-ray Review: An Anti-Erotic Film

Perhaps David Cronenberg’s most controversial film, it details the progressively more dangerous world of car-crash fetishists.

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Vigilante (1982) 4K Ultra HD Review: Gritty Death Wish Redux

A gritty early ’80s vigilante film with plenty of action and some ideas that doesn’t completely work in the end.

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Weathering with You (Limited Collector’s Edition) 4K Ultra HD Review: Prettier Colors, More Insight

This 4K limited edition of the anime film includes the film’s soundtrack and a fascinating feature-length making-of documentary.

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Chernobyl (2019) 4K Ultra HD Review: Harrowing, Horrifying Disaster Story

This five-part miniseries depicts the 1986 nuclear disaster, and the cover ups and lies that made it worse.

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Daughters of Darkness (1971) 4K Ultra HD Review: Mysterious, Sensuous Vampire Story

A mysterious and sumptuously produced film about a newlywed woman finding monsters on her honeymoon, supernatural and otherwise.

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Cold Light of Day (1989) Blu-ray Review: Portrait of a British Serial Killer

Obscure British serial killer film details the grubby life of a real life (if slightly fictionalized) murderer.

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Graveyards of Honor Blu-ray Review: Grim Yakuza Renegade Dramas

Two adaptations of the same novel, made decades apart, about a yakuza too violent and self-destructive even for gang-life.

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Warning from Space Blu-ray Review: Starmen Waiting in the Sky

The first Japanese science fiction film shot in color is as surprisingly stylishly made as it is old-fashioned.

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Split Second (1992) Blu-ray Review: Blade Runner and Alien’s Stupid Baby

Combines two great sci-fi movies to make a not great horror film, taking place in the distant future of 2008.

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Flash Gordon (1980) 4K Ultra HD Review: Garish and Spirited Comic Action

Whether it’s too camp or in the proper comic spirit, Flash Gordon’s elaborately colorful production bursts onto 4K.

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Black Test Car + The Black Report Blu-ray Review: Japanese Businessman Noir

Two ’60s crime thrillers by director Yasuzo Masumura that explore the dark side of post-war industrialized Japan.

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Pitch Black 4K Ultra HD Review: Riddick Starts Here

The first film in what became a sci-fi trilogy is a fun throwback action thriller, now in 4K UHD.

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Weathering with You Blu-ray Review: Anime Girls Make the Rain Stop

The new blockbuster anime film by Your Name director Makoto Shinkai again pits teenage love against supernatural disaster.

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The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection 4K UHD Review: Four Masterworks of Suspense

Four of the Master of Suspense’s most popular films make the leap onto 4K UHD.

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The New York Ripper 4K Ultra HD Review: Sleazy Exploitation American Giallo

A beautiful, terrible slasher film is a document of early ’80s New York and its director’s grotesque, murderous obsessions.

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The House by the Cemetery 4K Ultra HD Review: ‘Damn Tombstones!’

Lucio Fulci’s atmospheric, if baffling horror film arrives in a premium, beautiful 4k video release.

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Tales from the Darkside: The Movie Blu-ray Review: Slick ’90s Horror Anthology

Thin storylines are buoyed by effective production and a surprisingly good cast in this movie version of the TV show.

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Cinema Sentries

She Dies Tomorrow Movie Review: Meditation on Impending Doom

Amy Seimetz’ second feature length film explores the various reactions to the certain knowledge that… tomorrow, you die.

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Ride Your Wave Blu-ray Review: Touching Romance Becomes Ghost Story

Masaaki Yuasa’s latest feature about surfing, grief, and water controlling ghosts is touching and off-putting at once.

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Dream Demon Blu-ray Review: Newly-Unearthed ’80s Horror Fantasy

Rarely scary, but visually gripping, an unsuccessful attempt to copy Nightmare on Elm Street scores as a fantasy film.

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The Mad Fox Blu-ray Review: Kabuki-styled Cinematic Fantasia

Sometimes kabuki, sometimes animated, always fascinating, The Mad Fox is rife with political intrigue and forbidden romance.

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Inferno of Torture Blu-ray Review: Torsos, Tattoos, and Torture

Another in Teruo Ishii’s series of films depicting sadistic practices in Japanese history, all of which involve disrobing women.

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Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966) Blu-ray Review: Love and Madness

’60s British comedy stars David Warner as a love-sick, gorilla-obsessed artist trying to win back his wife.

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