Bugonia is a tale of ego, insanity, hubris, and how to properly pronounce “shibboleth”

To say that director Yorgos Lanthimos has been on a tear the last decade is an understatement. 8 feature films, 5 Oscar nominations for himself, as well as 5 Oscar wins for the films themselves. In the last 2 years alone, Lanthimos has released 3 films, and, with Bugonia, it’s clear that the quality hasn’t dipped at all.

Bugonia, a remake of the Korean film Save The Green Planet!, is a classic Lanthimos film; meaning that it is filled with dark, mean-spirited humor and transgressive themes, oscillating between absurdist humor and deeply upsetting imagery. Bugonia follows a couple of down-on-their-luck local yokels, Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and Don (Aidan Delbis), who decide to kidnap a local CEO, Michelle (Emma Stone). After her initial capture, Michelle is let in on the plan; Teddy & Don believe that she is an alien, and that she must get them into contact with her mothership. The situation, as one would expect, spirals from there.

Bugonia heads in directions you could never really guess, becoming more and more absurd and violent. From the initial kidnapping plotting, it is clear that not only is Teddy more confidence than brains, but that he is leading his handicap cousin, Don, into an incredibly dangerous, and insane, situation. Once Michelle is taken hostage, it becomes a film about escalating severities and breakdowns of control, As Teddy becomes more and more unhinged the longer he doesn’t get what he wants from Michelle; a confession that she is the root of all of his problems. 

Once things turn violent, and the wheels start to come off, the absurdity kicks into high gear, as secrets are revealed and people are not as they seem. I’m keeping it vague so as to not give away how insane the 3rd act gets here, as bursts of intense violence are both shocking and pitch black in their comedy. I do think that the final minutes do take a bit of an overstep, a “jumping the shark” moment, that kind of cheapens everything that came before, though. That being said, everything up to those final 5 minutes is dark humor gold. 

Specs: 

As usual, Lanthimos regular Robbie Ryan shoots Bugonia, and, as usual, it looks spectacular, the golden hues of the beautiful property juxtaposing against the dark, dismal shadows of the basement prison Michelle is imprisoned in. The 4K disc makes sure all the colors pop, and the shadows stay dark with secrets. The audio is also worth mentioning here, the Dolby Atmos track really emphasizing every buzzing bee, every strike of a chord on the discordant soundtrack, and every quiet, uncomfortable shift from the two bumbling kidnappers.

For special features, Bugonia offers an extra treat for fans in the way of a featurettes entitled “The Birth Of The Bees: The Making of Bugonia”, which includes interviews with Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, and the rest of the cast and crew about the making of the film. Also included are trailers of upcoming releases.

Bugonia continues Lanthimos streak of deeply unique and transgressive filmmaking that has made him a darling of independent cinema. If you’ve been a fan of Lanthimos’s output previously, you know exactly what you’re signing up for. If this is your first foray into the darkly humorous world of the Greek Auteur, well…buckle up.

Now available on 4K!

The post BUGONIA Finds The Lighter Side Of Conspiracy-Fueled Kidnapping & Torture [4K Review] first appeared on Cinapse.

A look at some of my favorite home video releases of this past year.

As physical media continues to hold onto its place in the home viewing market with all its might, it’s still proving itself to be the area to go for cinephiles who crave that level of specific film viewing, which the streaming services aren’t typically able to provide. It hasn’t been the easiest year for physical media as streaming continues to loom even larger than before, and boutique labels such as Shout! Factory are folding. However, there are those labels, the champions of the home video concept, who not only refuse to go anywhere, but are continuing to find new titles to re-discover while taking the discs themselves to even greater levels. Simply put, they’re the key film preservationists of our time.

In honor of physical media and its continued value in the lives of cinephiles, here are my top 5 releases of the year, each one a worthy entry on anyone’s shelf.

1. Corpse Bride– Warner Home Video

Despite earning Tim Burton his first Oscar nomination, this 2005 tale still feels somewhat unheralded. It’s a shame for this dark love story that deals with a nervous groom (Johnny Depp) who finds himself accidentally married to a recently deceased young woman (Helena Bonham Carter) just before his wedding. Corpse Bride plays on so many of Burton’s strengths, not least of all his love for stop-motion animation, which he lifts to sheer perfection here in all its macabre glory. Twenty years since the film’s release, its themes of romance, dark comedy, and even the fear of love, all show Burton’s sensitive side. For a filmmaker known for his twists on classic, well-known properties, Corpse Bride is a reminder of the original places his unique imagination can travel to.

2. Nightmare Alley– The Criterion Collection

Expectations were high among those within the film noir world when it was announced that Guillermo del Toro was going to be remaking this 1947 genre classic. Fans needn’t have worried. The legendary filmmaker’s interpretation of a drifter (Bradley Cooper), who goes from carnival worker to high-class con artist, was a visually sumptuous feast that was buoyed by an eclectic and well-cast group of actors. Beyond just amazing visuals (as well as the slightly dreamlike world of the 1940s that they bring to life) and stellar performances, del Toro’s reading of Nightmare Alley not only retains its noir feel, but also hones in on the tragedy of the story. The result is a film that mixes notions of fate, chance, and destiny in a tale about one man’s quest to outrun all of them.

3. For Whom the Bell Tolls– Kino Lorber

Epics rarely get more epic than they do with For Whom the Bell Tolls. The 1943 adaptation of the celebrated Ernest Hemingway novel tells the story of an American soldier (Gary Cooper) who falls in love with a young guerrilla named Maria (Ingrid Bergman) during the Spanish Civil War. A story filled with grand-scale filmmaking and emotional moments ripe with tension and passion, For Whom the Bell Tolls is Hemingway at his purest. The film received a slew of Oscar nominations and was one of the top hits of the year. While there have been numerous versions floating around since the film’s debut, Kino’s release beautifully contains the restored 168 minute version in a collaboration with the UCLA Film & Television Archive. All these years later, the film remains as lush, explosive, and romantic an experience as it’s always been.

4. The Naked Gun– Paramount

Director Akiva Shaffer’s take on the classic spoof parody series shouldn’t have worked. After all, it had been years since anyone had been able to successfully revive the genre to the level that this beloved trio of films had back in the 80s and 90s. But an incredibly clever script, and a more than game cast, including leads Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson, brought fans back to the genre’s glory days with one side-splitting joke after another. The story of a big city lieutenant (Neeson) out to keep the streets clean is just as fruitful of a premise as its always been, from a comedy perspective. A never-ending assortment of coffee, a scatting Anderson, a hilarious police cam sequence, and even a cameo from original Naked Gun star Priscilla Presley, this fresh take literally has it all.

5. Airport: The Complete 4-Film Collection– Kino Lorber

No film series has gone through more of an evolution (or de-evolution, depending on who you ask) than the Airport movies. The plot is the same for each of these four installments. Some life-threatening obstacle is about to befall passengers aboard an aircraft of some sort, and it’s up to them and the people on the ground to do whatever it takes in order to try and avoid disaster. If the series was short on original stories, it wasn’t on stars. Everyone from Dean Martin to Gloria Swanson to Jimmy Stewart to Olivia DeHavilland all turn up in one sequel or another, with each one committing to the material. The quality of the four Airports range from genuinely tense to flat-out insane. Yet the common thread between all of them is the spirit of the disaster movie and the unadulterated joy its always brought to audiences.

The post Frank’s Favorites of 2025 first appeared on Cinapse.

Tony Scott’s Spy Game sees Redford using his disarming charm to run circles around CIA.

Two Cents is a Cinapse original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team curates the series and contribute their “two cents” using a maximum of 200-400 words. Guest contributors and comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future picks. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion. Would you like to be a guest contributor or programmer for an upcoming Two Cents entry? Simply watch along with us and/or send your pitches or 200-400 word reviews to cinapse.twocents@gmail.com.

The Pick: Spy Game (2001)

For the rest of the year, we’re focusing on the great career of the late, great Robert Redford. In this year of great contention and struggle, celebrating some of the great American actors and filmmakers has been a solace for many of us here at Cinapse. With the recent passing of a true legend in Redford, it felt like it was only appropriate to do a deep dive into some of his great films. In fact, he was the heartbeat of so many great American films, calling a two month retrospective a “deep dive” is a false moniker. It barely scratches the surface of his almost mythological career. As we explore some films we love and films we are newly experiencing, we invite you to join us for our Redford Retrospective.

For the penultimate entry in a two month journey through the filmography of one of our absolute greats, we land on one of more underlooked roles, even though it, like the rest, is a top tier performance. That role is Nathan Muir, retiring CIA agent, in Tony Scott’s Spy Game. What would appear to be another bombastic blockbuster from Scott, Spy Game is much more of a cerebral watch, as we follow Nathan on his last day at the agency, as he looks to save one of his former trainees from execution. It is a film filled with twists and turns, as Muir secretly makes moves behind the agency’s back, using all of his skills and connections he’s made over a long career for one last covert mission. It is a top tier little spy film, and it is elevated by both Redford’s performance and Scott’s direction.

The Team

Spencer Brickey

I’ll admit, coming into this week’s edition, that I’m naturally a bit biased, as I am a Tony Scott mega fan. After spending the first few features of his career making big, brawny action films, it seemed like many wrote off his career as “empty headed blockbusters”, unlike the higher brow drama work of someone like, say, his brother. But, for those that actually watched his films, they’d know that his ‘90s output is stellar, and filled with unique, engaging films, be it a geopolitical pot boiler like Crimson Tide, or a paranoid thriller like Enemy Of The State, or a quick witted crime caper like Modern Romance.

That same sort of waving off is also why most don’t know about Spy Game, the turn of the century thriller from Scott. Which is a shame, because, man, Spy Game is an absolute blast. Spy Game sees Scott use all the tools in his toolbag, from his unique scene structures and editing, to both the big action sequences and the tense verbal standoffs. It is a masterclass of thriller filmmaking.

A big reason for why it works so well is Redford, who is dialed in 100% as Nathan Muir, a retiring CIA operative who has 24 hours to help his former protege out of a Chinese prison.  It is a role that sees Redford using his natural disarming charm, magnified by his age, as an advantage. Those around him view him as an old fool, with one foot already out the door. Muir uses that, playing dumb when he needs to, but secretly making moves in the shadows, collecting intel and setting up a covert operation. 

Redford so perfectly plays a man who is strategically guarded, his cards close to the chest, playing the players instead of the hand. It is immensely satisfying to watch him continuously come out ahead and work his way out of sticky situations. 

He, as apt for Redford, also has great chemistry with Brad Pitt, who plays Tom Bishop, the incarcerated operative. Played in flashbacks, Redford and Pitt have a natural “cool” energy, able to appear as the most interesting person in the room without ever making a move. When playing it off each other, they move like two apex predators, wary of each other’s abilities, but respectful of their strengths. It is an effective “passing of the baton”, between one generation of movie star to the next.
Spy Game is a top tier spy thriller that sees an auteur at the top of his game, working with greats from two different generations, creating a truly thrilling, kinetic, and fun time at the movies. What more could you ask for?

@Spencer Brickey on Letterboxd

Ed Travis

A few months ago, after the passing of an absolute legend, the Cinapse team programmed a number of that legend’s features for our Two Cents column. And it turned out that one of their late career roles, in a film directed by Tony Scott, served as somewhat of a pseudo-sequel to one of their most iconic roles from an earlier era. 

That legend was Gene Hackman, who played an infamously paranoid spy in The Conversation, and then a similar character in Enemy Of The State many years later.

So, imagine my surprise when we decided to memorialize another recently passed legend, and programmed Spy Game, a film directed by Tony Scott, that served as somewhat of a pseudo-sequel to one of Robert Redord’s most iconic roles of an earlier era.

Sure, in Spy Game, Redford plays retiring master spy Nathan Muir, and isn’t the same guy as his young, idealistic, man on the run character Turner in Three Days of the Condor. But there’s almost no doubt in my mind that Spy Game, which I had entirely forgotten and which clicked remarkably well for me, intentionally trades on Redford being somewhat of a patron saint of government paranoia films from the 1970s.

What charmed me most about Spy Game, beyond the always stylish direction and aesthetics from Tony Scott, was the passing of the torch element of Redford to Brad Pitt, not to mention how well that translates to the characters themselves. On Muir’s last day before retirement, his erstwhile protege Tom Bishop, ends up in trouble. Most of Bishop’s more youthful action is out in the field, while Muir’s action mostly all takes place in interrogation briefing rooms. But Spy Game moves like its life depends on it, shows us the dehumanizing and deprogramming it takes to become a successful spy, and then goes on a redemption quest, with Muir breaking all his own rules to prioritize saving a friend and a brother as one final salvific act before retirement. Redford literally drives off into the sunset at the end of this thing, aviators on, behind the wheel of a Porsche, passing the torch to Brad Pitt but doing it in the coolest way imaginable. 

Flashy, profoundly “Hollywood”, and slick as hell, Spy Game made me nostalgic for a different time, when studios and movie stars made programmers that hit like this. We didn’t know what we had with the likes of Tony Scott and Robert Redford, but it’s unlikely we’ll ever see anything quite like them ever again.

@Ed Travis on BlueSky

November and December Lineup: Redford Retrospective

November and December Lineup: Redford Retrospective

The post Redford Retrospective: Two Cents Goes On A Covert Mission With SPY GAME first appeared on Cinapse.

Two Cents is a Cinapse original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team curates the series and contribute their “two cents” using a maximum of 200-400 words. Guest contributors and comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future picks. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion. Would you like to be a guest contributor or programmer for an upcoming Two Cents entry? Simply watch along with us and/or send your pitches or 200-400 word reviews to cinapse.twocents@gmail.com.

The Pick: The Old Man & the Gun (2018)

For the rest of the year, we’re focusing on the great career of the late, great Robert Redford. In this year of great contention and struggle, celebrating some of the great American actors and filmmakers has been a solace for many of us here at Cinapse. With the recent passing of a true legend in Redford, it felt like it was only appropriate to do a deep dive into some of his great films. In fact, he was the heartbeat of so many great American films, calling a two month retrospective a “deep dive” is a false moniker. It barely scratches the surface of his almost mythological career. As we explore some films we love and films we are newly experiencing, we invite you to join us for our Redford Retrospective.

There’s no way we could do a tribute to Robert Redford and not discuss what was very clearly his last great film role. In 2018’s The Old Man & the Gun, writer/director David Lowery adapts this true story about an aging career criminal named Forrest (Redford) who has spent decades robbing banks and breaking out of prisons for the sheer thrill and pleasure of it. However, with the law on his tail, headed by a determined detective (Casey Affleck), and an encounter with a lovely Texas widow (Sissy Spacek), Forrest starts to believe his days as a longtime sweet-mannered criminal might soon be over.

The Guest

The Team

Frank Calvillo

The Old Man & the Gun rightfully remains Redford’s cinematic swan song. Sure, he took on the odd cameo or narrator job in the years that followed, but Lowery’s film was the last time the world got to see Redford in all his iconic glory. He couldn’t have chosen a better film to close out an indelible career on. The light dramedy is a pure treat for fans of classic cinema. Lowery’s appreciation for yesteryear and his careful attention to making sure every detail captured the romance of the era the main story takes place in, is what makes him one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation. The plot is both sublime and fantastic with this story of a career criminal on the run coming off as poetic and almost whimsical. The film maintains this unique blend because of Redford, who naturally finds the right level of playfulness for Forrest that we’re instantly on his side, wanting him to continue on his escapades. 

The film boasts a number of scenes that make The Old Man & the Gun the rich cinematic experience that it remains. There’s the scene between Forrest and Jewel (Spacek) in the diner, which is so filled with the kind of flirty back and forth, it’s just too delightful, the confrontation between Detective Hunt (Affleck) in the men’s room (probably the most playful moment in the entire film), and the chase scene where we see Forrest trying to outrun the law as fast as he can. Yet no scene comes close to matching the sheer bliss that is felt when Forrest says goodnight to Jewel following their date. After closing the front door to her house, she starts to walk down the hall before turning back, and on impulse, opens the front door again, only to be greeted by Forrest, who kisses her goodnight. I remember showing The Old Man & the Gun to my father not long after it came out, thinking it might be his kind of movie. When that scene came up, I snuck a look over at him and saw a huge grin on his face. It was a special moment for me and a memory that I always come back to whenever I think about this special film and the legend who helped make it what it was.

(@frank.calvillo.3 on Instagram)

Ed Travis

If I’m being totally honest, my first watch of The Old Man & The Gun left me disappointed. I’m a huge fan of writer/director David Lowery’s work and adore Robert Redford, Sissy Spacek, and many of the other cast members of this film. And when the final act left me scratching my head a little bit, I ended up somewhat writing the film off as a light-hearted romp that simply didn’t click for me all that deeply.

But I was happy to revisit the film after Redford’s passing and based on Cinapse staffer Frank Calvillo’s advocacy for it to be considered among the curated titles our team needed to revisit and reevaluate.

The film simply worked its charms on me upon a second chance! Redford’s charisma is electric, and the chemistry between he and Sissy Spacek is undeniable. Perhaps Redford’s recent departure helped me to treasure the late-career performance a little more, and to reflect more deeply upon the film’s themes of truly living and what that means for some eccentric folks.

Perhaps what I bounced off of upon first viewing (spoilers) is that Redford’s character doesn’t choose Spacek in the end; he chooses to continue robbing banks. It’s not the choice I myself would make. But that’s not what movies are about. The Old Man & The Gun is interested in exploring what it looks like for some people to truly pursue their deepest passions in life, even if those things conflict with society’s expectations. It’s a film about a guy who derives genuine pleasure from robbing banks, escaping prisons, and bantering with those pursuing him. And when he’s not doing those things, he simply isn’t living. I’ve never known anyone like that in this world, but that’s a big part of the charm here. Redford confounds everyone he meets, and somehow spreads joy wherever he goes; even if he’s doing that whilst committing armed robbery.

It’s cinematic magic, lightning in a bottle, charming as hell, and a hell of a late-career role for the dearly departed Robert Redford.

@Ed Travis on Bluesky

The post Redford Retrospective: Two Cents Basks in the Cinematic Glow of THE OLD MAN & THE GUN first appeared on Cinapse.

It’s HIGH NOON in space, with Sean Connery at his saltiest

One of the most interesting things about Arrow’s recent 4K UHD output is that it isn’t limited to rediscovering glossy ’90s blockbusters in stunning new transfers. Alongside those crowd-pleasers, Arrow has also been digging up lesser-known deep cuts through its licensing deals—packages that often include smaller, more niche titles. That’s exactly how we arrive at their latest release: Outland (1981), a film I didn’t even know I needed to see until Arrow was kind enough to send it my way.

Written and directed by Peter Hyams (Capricorn One, 2010, The Relic, Timecop), Outland is essentially a space western, with clear narrative allusions to High Noon. And if that alone isn’t enough to pique your interest, it stars an older, saltier Sean Connery as the new sheriff in town.

Outland takes place in the not-too-distant future on a titanium mining colony on Lo, one of Jupiter’s moons. Connery plays William T. O’Niel, a space marshal sent to keep the peace during a bizarre suicide epidemic. The deaths are officially attributed to miners cracking under the strain of isolation and long rotations, but the company’s policy of quickly jettisoning the bodies—before any autopsies can be performed—raises O’Niel’s suspicions.

While we’re not given much of the marshal’s backstory, it’s clear he’s been shuffled from post to post due to his “big mouth,” which feels like a not-so-subtle incentive to keep quiet about what he eventually uncovers. Before we’re even out of the first act, O’Niel’s wife leaves him, taking their child with her and leaving him alone on the station with something to prove.

The first thing that really stands out is the station’s immaculate, Weyland-Yutani-esque production design—and I mean that as the highest compliment. The lived-in, industrial look firmly grounds this story of space miners in a believable world, giving the narrative real weight. For me, that sense of authenticity is often the barrier to entry with sci-fi: does the setting feel real enough to buy into? Outland absolutely passes that test.

The film unfolds in two distinct halves. The first has O’Niel piecing together what’s really happening on the station; the second introduces a pair of hired killers sent to eliminate him. True to its western roots, no one wants to help the new lawman. The workers would rather watch him die than risk standing up for what’s right.

Connery is terrific here, playing a weary but principled man with just enough heart beneath the grit. The family subplot mostly works, though the film’s ending feels slightly softened—more like a studio note than the conclusion I was expecting—but that’s part of the era. The other standout is Frances Sternhagen as the colony’s doctor, described as being “one step away from malpractice” back on Earth. She’s more than capable of matching Connery’s energy, and their dynamic adds welcome levity while taking some of the burden off his shoulders.

Arrow’s 4K transfer looks excellent, highlighting the film’s strong production value and allowing the performances to shine—particularly Connery, who delivers some genuinely great moments. As with previous Arrow releases, the set is absolutely packed with supplemental material, offering valuable context on how this strange, compelling sci-fi film came together.

4K ULTRA HD LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

• Brand new 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative by Arrow Films
• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Original lossless stereo 2.0 and DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio options
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Archive audio commentary by writer-director Peter Hyams
• Brand new audio commentary by film critic Chris Alexander
• A Corridor of Accidents, a newly filmed interview with Peter Hyams
• Outlandish, a newly filmed interview with cinematographer Stephen Goldblatt
• Introvision: William Mesa on Outland, a newly filmed interview with visual effects artist William Mesa
• No Place for Heroes, a brand new appreciation by film scholar Josh Nelson
• Hollywoodland Outland, a brand new visual essay by film historian Howard S. Berger
• Theatrical trailer
• Image gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Pye Parr
• Double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Pye Parr
• Illustrated collector’s booklet with new writing by Priscilla Page and Brandon Streussnig

Outland feels like a clear precursor to Firefly, filtered through Alien—a miners-in-space western that never tips into hokiness, as so many similar concepts do. Connery clearly relishes the role, chewing the scenery just enough to nod at his Bond bona fides while leaning into his natural swagger. It’s a film I haven’t stopped talking about since watching it, largely because so few people have seen—or even heard of—it. Hopefully, this release changes that and gives Outland the audience it’s long deserved.

The post OUTLAND 4K UHD: Arrow Video Unearths a Forgotten Sci-Fi Western Gem first appeared on Cinapse.

Ken Russell Goes to the Super Bowl

Like many horror fans, I was immediately drawn in by the visually striking trailers for HIM, the Jordan Peele–produced, Justin Tipping–directed film, and quickly added it to my must-see list. However, the divisive reaction upon its theatrical release kept me at arm’s length. Now that the film has arrived on home video in 4K UHD, I finally gave it a watch—and I’m glad I did. What I found was not only an extremely intelligent, phantasmagoric, and surprisingly objective examination of toxic masculinity through the lens of American sports culture, but also a clear understanding of why that approach might scare some viewers off. We’ve normalized a nearly fanatical devotion to sports for generations, where sacrifice of everything in the name of winning is so deeply ingrained in American culture that questioning it can feel tantamount to treason.

HIM follows rising football star Cameron “Cam” Cade (Tyriq Withers), who is practicing late one night ahead of a major scouting event when he’s brutally attacked by an overzealous fan, leaving him with a severe head injury. Determined to prove he’s still fit to go pro—and worthy of recruitment by his dream team, the Saviors—Cam is invited by his hero, veteran quarterback Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), to train for a week at White’s secluded compound. Cam grew up idolizing Isaiah, who is not only contemplating retirement but also preparing to pass the fate of his franchise to the young upstart who has trained his entire life for this moment. Each day at the compound is designed to mold Cam into the next G.O.A.T.(Greatest of all Time), but things quickly veer into the sinister and surreal, leaving us unsure whether Cam’s experiences stem from his injury or something far more nefarious.

I suspect HIM’s divisiveness stems from how mercilessly it goes after not just sports culture and the NFL, but broader American ideals of hyper-masculinity, teamwork, and athletic excellence. Through a surreal horror lens, the film deconstructs concepts typically framed as unquestionably positive. The portrayal of sports fandom—while exaggerated to near-cult levels—doesn’t feel entirely off the mark. As someone from Philly, it didn’t seem that far-fetched to me (Go Birds!). This fanaticism is embodied by a group of face-painted devotees who live outside White’s compound, clad in team gear and willing to do absolutely anything—even die—for their hero. As someone who’s never fully embraced sports culture, the depiction felt disturbingly accurate at times.

While Tyriq Withers delivers a solid, grounded performance as Cam, it’s Marlon Wayans who steals nearly every scene he’s in. Many will associate Wayans primarily with his comedic work (Scary Movie, Don’t Be a Menace), and while flashes of that persona surface here, it’s worth remembering he also appeared in Requiem for a Dream. In HIM, he effortlessly oscillates between humor and menace, often aided by Julia Fox as White’s influencer wife. Fox continues to prove herself a uniquely versatile character actor—charismatic, unsettling, and deeply weird in the best way possible. Her character’s layers, particularly regarding race and status, are both unexpected and integral to the film’s unsettling power.

The 4K UHD presentation is flawless, boasting a pristine reference quality digital transfer and an impressive slate of bonus features—something increasingly rare in today’s physical media landscape. Alongside a director’s commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, and an alternate ending, the extras add just enough additional madness to further deepen the experience. Check out the full bonus features below:

• Alternate Ending: Zay’s Nightmare
• Deleted End Credits Scene: Food or Freedom
• Deleted Scenes
• Becoming Them – Tyriq Withers and Marlon Wayans didn’t just train like athletes — they learned to think like them. From strict diets and daily workouts to meditation sessions and leadership drills, we explore how these two actors didn’t just play the part—they lived it.
• The Sport of Filmmaking – From integrated lighting and military grade thermal cameras to detailed prosthetics and elevated sets, see how everything came together to create a film as spiritual as it is cinematic.
• Anatomy of a Scene:
• Rebirth
• A Diabolical Game of Catch
• Hymns of a G.O.A.T. – Go behind the scenes with composer Bobby Krlic as he heightens the film’s psychological edge through score—layering aggressive textures, foreboding tensions, and atmospheric sound design that heighten every moment.
• Feature Commentary with Director/Co-Writer Justin Tipping

HIM feels like a modern Ken Russell film filtered through the brutal spectacle of American football, presenting our national sports obsession through an unflinching, grotesque, blood-soaked point of view. It’s easy to understand why this might hit too close to home for some or leave others feeling alienated by its portrayal of deeply ingrained American ideologies. That discomfort, however, is precisely the point. Tipping not only examines but actively deconstructs this culture using the same visual language found in sports commercials and documentaries. If, like me, you were initially put off by the polarized reactions, I hope this provides some context. For those seeking challenging, transgressive cinema, HIM is well worth your time.

The post HIM on 4K UHD: A Nightmare of Masculinity, Mythmaking, and Muscle first appeared on Cinapse.

Kung-fu, kaiju, and cosmic chaos – Shawstyle

With their fourth entry in their Shawscope series Arrow has finally decided to get weird — dusting off some of the stranger entries into other sub-genres, not just Kung-Fu, to offer up a more unique array of films this time around. 

First up is Shaw’s singular foray into Tokasatusu and Hong Kong’s first super hero film – Chinese Superman or Super Inframan. Run Run Shaw was looking to hop onto the Japanese Tokasatusu boom after seeing the popularity of Kamen Rider and Ultraman in the 70s with a fever dream – combining the two biggest properties at the time into China’s own cinematic superhero. Now this was also a time where these heroes dominated television and Run Run was looking to craft a big screen adventure that would launch their hybrid. 

To do this he promoted Shaw cinematographer Shan Hua and commissioned a script by the writer of the 36th Chamber Kuang Ni. For the designs, Run Run brought over Michio Mikami from Japan, who was responsible for the design of Kamen Rider (Which you can see in the blue print on the wall of the chamber where Inframan is created.), to design their rogues gallery of monsters. There was a miscommunication and the design for Inframan’s head was already completed and Mikami simply was tasked with the body and the monsters. After Mikami turned in his designs, he promptly returned to Japan, soured on the experience to leave Shaw to realize his creatures. 

Super Inframan is the story of a group of evil super humans who were buried beneath the earth and awakened after 10 million years, who are bent on destroying the humanity now inhabiting it. Basically copying the origin story for Kamen Rider verbatim, Inframan was a motorcycling badass who is turned into a transforming kung-fu fighting android, this time by the peace loving Professor Chang of Science Headquarters. He is tasked with defeating the go-go boots wearing Princess Dragon Mom, her mutants and their skull-faced Shocker-esque henchman army. 

While the film delivers the kinetic Tokasatusu action you’d expect, what makes this unholy hybrid so beloved decades after it bombed in its home country, is its sheer audacity and unstoppable spirit. This is assisted by the gorgeously garish production design and Michio Mikami’s monsters, which were elaborated upon, for better or worse by Shaw’s team.  This culminates into a knock-off that not only feels right at home in the Tokasatusu sub-genre, but has its own unique flavor thanks to its Japanese sub-genre through a Chinese lens creation. 

Arrow’s reputation with these Shaw releases thus far carries on with Inframan, the image is clear, crisp and bright. Of all the extras, Frank Djeng’s commentary once again delivers, with his most his take on the tragic events that transpired to cut the theatrical run of Inframan to a single week in Hong Kong and removed Kamen Rider from the small screen as well.

DISC ONE – SUPER INFRAMAN

• Newly restored lossless Mandarin, Cantonese and English mono audio

• Newly translated English subtitles, plus optional hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub

• Option to view the film in its US theatrical version, Infra-man, with lossless “Stereo-Infra-Sound” surround audio

• Brand new commentary by martial arts cinema experts Frank Djeng & Erik Ko

• Shaws’ Little Dragon, a newly filmed interview with co-star Bruce Le

• Super Ultra Infra Action!, a brand new video essay on Shaws’ tokusatsu films written and narrated by Steven Sloss

• Theatrical trailers, TV spots and radio spots

As a Tokasatusu fan it’s always a treat to check in with Super Inframan, this is one of those titles that only gets better/weirder with every watch. Not to mention watching this a second time for the commentary on this one definitely delivered some great, new to me context as well. While Inframan himself is not the most engaging of protagonists or heroes, the monsters and go-go boot clad baddies definitely make this one work for me. Even though you have this giant studio like Shaw behind it, it still has this very hand-made, DIY quality to it that’s as charming as it is slightly off putting. Talk about a strong start to a box set, this is definitely a title a lot of folks have been waiting for since the only previous release is 88 Films region locked disc, so I can’t wait for what’s next.

The post Shawscope Vol 4: Disc 1 – SUPER INFRAMAN first appeared on Cinapse.

Kon’s Nightmarish Debut Looks Better, and Cuts Deeper – Than Ever in 4K

Perfect Blue was one of those gateway anime films of the late ’90s and early aughts, arriving just ahead of the first anime DVD boom. Alongside Ghost in the Shell, Akira, and Ninja Scroll, it helped permanently shift Western perceptions of what animated films could be—especially for audiences raised almost exclusively on a Disney diet.

Feature-length films were particularly popular in the VHS era because they represented a smaller financial commitment. At the time, anime was typically released two episodes per tape—or as a single film—often priced around $24.99 a tape, at places like Suncoast Pictures. Compounding this, most titles were purchased sight unseen, since Blockbuster and many mom-and-pop video stores rarely stocked “cartoons,” wary of confusing customers who were simply looking for a light, family-friendly rental.

Like Ghost in the Shell and Akira, Perfect Blue delivered the requisite nudity and violence that often served as the bar for entry, but like those films, it also offered something far more substantial for viewers willing to look deeper. The directorial debut of manga artist–turned–anime filmmaker Satoshi Kon, the project was originally conceived as an OVA (original video animation), a direct-to-video format. That origin explains why the more salacious and sordid elements were amplified, helping the title stand out on crowded Japanese video store shelves.

OVAs typically ran around 60 minutes, and Kon—ambitiously aiming for a theatrical release—chose instead to stretch his limited resources to feature length. Employing every artistic shortcut imaginable, he expanded roughly 30,000 drawings (normally enough for less than an hour of animation) into an 80-minute film, a constraint that ultimately became part of the movie’s distinctive style.

For those who have never experienced the animated psychological masterpiece that is Perfect Blue, the film follows Mima Kirigoe, who, after two and a half years as a member of the pop trio CHAM!, leaves the group in an attempt to reinvent herself as an actress. Establishing themes that would become hallmarks of Kon’s work, the film charts the gradual collapse of the barrier between reality and illusion as Mima’s career shift forces her to question the very fabric of her identity. This unraveling is intensified by a deranged stalker, a role in a television drama that pushes her into increasingly dark territory, and a series of murders that begin to orbit her life. 

Released in 1998, the film was also remarkably prescient in exploring the growing divide between one’s real self and one’s online persona, an idea that has since become disturbingly commonplace.

Rewatching Perfect Blue nearly two decades later thanks to GKIDS’ pristine new UHD release, the film feels even more relevant than ever. It documents a celebrity’s identity crisis as the real and the digital collide, while also pondering the price of fame. Mima is forced to exploit herself and compromise her morals for exposure, repeatedly asking, “Who am I?” Kon masterfully weaves these frayed psychological threads while playing with time, perspective, and subjectivity, resulting in a film of enduring power. It’s worth noting that in the supplemental seminars, Kon himself admits some regret over the the more sordid elements, in particular the simulated rape scene, acknowledging that its gratuitous nature stemmed from a desire to fit the expectations of the OVA market.

Unboxing:

Which brings us to the extras, that are a must-see for fans and anyone interested in unpacking the film’s dense subtext. Chief among them is a three-part seminar totaling nearly two hours, featuring Kon watching Perfect Blue with a classroom audience and breaking it down piece by piece, scene by scene. While he thoughtfully explores the metaphors and symbolism underpinning the narrative, he also shares personal anecdotes about the production and the creative solutions he employed to stretch his budget. Of all the interviews and retrospectives I’ve encountered, this is easily the most engaging portrayal of Kon—funny, candid, and deeply invested in making sure his audience understands the world he built.

As for the remaster itself, I was unable to find concrete details on how it was created, particularly given longstanding rumors that the original negative was lost. What’s clear is that the image exhibits a level of clarity missing from earlier releases. While it doesn’t appear to be a simple AI upscale, there’s a noticeable sharpness that doesn’t come at the expense of the hand drawn line work. Colors are brighter, though the film does not feature HDR (despite the J-card incorrectly claiming otherwise), a discrepancy not uncommon in Japanese releases. Projected on a large screen and compared to the included original SD version—DNR and all—the difference is substantial. This is easily the best this film has EVER looked.

Perfect Blue 4K Limited Time Bonus Features:

• 128-Page Booklet
• 10 Art Cards
• Poster
• Complete 117 minutes of Lectures by Director Satoshi Kon subtitled in English for the First Time
• Promotional Video Edited by Satoshi Kon in 4K
• “Angel of Your Heart” Recording Session and Full English Version
• Cast and Crew Interviews
• Theatrical Trailers and TV Spots

While I hesitate to call this a definitive release without knowing the full provenance of the restoration, I can confidently say this set is still absolutely worth picking up for fans, and it’s as close as we’re going to get honestly. Between the 4K presentation, the extensive seminars, the included book, and the physical extras—packaging, poster, and art cards—it’s a thoughtfully assembled release that showcases how Kon turned limitations into stylistic strengths and one of the most recognizable classics of the medium. Given the late 90s setting Perfect Blue feels as relevant and fresh as ever, with its twists and turns that still hold their weight and beg to be discovered for generations to come in this new restoration.

The post PERFECT BLUE on 4K UHD: Satoshi Kon’s Debut is Sharper and More Unsettling Than Ever! first appeared on Cinapse.

The Classic Tale Of The Highs & Lows Of The 1980’s Pornography Industry, Boogie Nights, Finally Arrives on 4K!

The porn industry is like any industry; it how ups and downs, high profit eras and low profit cool downs, as well as times of massive industry transformation. One of those, for the porn industry as it was for the greater film industry, was the change from film to video. All of a sudden, smut films were cheap to make, and the expected standards of a proper “adult film” shifted, tossing the entire industry into chaos. 

It is against this backdrop that director Paul Thomas Anderson sets his story, of a young naive man who finds success, failure, love and hate as the world’s most popular adult performer. Boogie Nights, while technically PTA’s second feature,  was his first real exposure to wider audiences. What he crafted was a winding tale of a rise and fall of both an industry and a man, as well as the strength of a found family, even if it is made up of broken people.

Boogie Nights is a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for the audience as well. The first half is all about ascension; young actor Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg) ascension from homeless nobody to king of porn “Dirk Diggler”; Seasoned director Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) ascension from small time filmmaker to making “real movies”, as he sees it; the entire porn industries continued ascending success through the late 1970s. The first half (or as it is split in the film, “the ‘70s”) is all about success, excess and indulgence. Why worry about tomorrow? We’ll always be beautiful, rich, and care free!

And then, the ‘80s start with a bang; more precisely, 4 bangs, which equal 3 bodies. In the split second of the new decade, everything has changed, for the worse. What sets Boogie Nights apart from other “rise and fall” narratives is it really falls. We watch as everything that can go wrong for our group of misfits goes wrong, in usually the most brutal ways. 

We watch as young Dirk becomes a jaded coke head, screaming at those he once loved, peeling away his own life and success one line at a time. We watch as Jack is forced into “the future”; his money man taken away on child pornography charges, Jack becomes what he always feared, a smut peddler who shoots quick and dirty, any aspirations of filmmaking gone with the advent of tape. We watch as Amber Waves (Julianne Moore), mother to all who need, loses her visitation rights for her young son. We watch as Rollergirl (Heather Graham) is subjected to sexual humiliation by her former high school tormentor. 

A family that once seemed unbreakable is now scattered across LA, each of them dealing with their own personal rock bottoms. It isn’t until Dirk finds himself in the middle of a robbery gone wrong that he finally realizes what he needs once again; family. After putting us through heartbreak after heartbreak, PTA allows Boogie Nights to end on a softer note, showing that this crew, who appeared slightly predatory at first, is really just a community of lost souls, looking for acceptance, be it in the bedroom or in each others hearts, and the strange little gang of humpers and lovers is all the family they have.

All of this works, of course, because of the bevy of incredible performances. With only a handful of performances under his belt, it is genuinely incredible what Wahlberg is doing here, playing what might be the best “naive” performance ever. Eddie/Dirk is all cock, no brains, easily manipulated and always looking to please, at first others and then himself. Wahlberg plays both sides, young and doting and then jaded and paranoid, with ease, creating a character that is pitiable, enraging, charming, and overall sympathetic.

Playing father figure to this lost boy is Jack Horner, played by Burt Reynolds. Jack might be the best performance Burt ever gave, all of his years of gusto and charisma distilled into a quick witted porn director who wants more than anything to be taken seriously as a filmmaker. He is a man who projects strength, but is tired of the life he’s built, always wishing that life had taken a different way.

That is the magic of Boogie Nights; a collection of top tier talent, and an all star collection of character actors, all bringing to life a world that is nothing more than a seedy underbelly to most. PTA created a film about a community that almost all look down. It’s a film that views them through empathetic lenses, but never becomes preachy in its approach. It is a film about people going through tremendous highs and terrible lows; it just so happens they make porn.

Specs:

Boogie Nights looks better than ever in 4K. Rather than an overly polished look, like you can see with some of the restorations, Boogie Nights keeps the grit and the seams, but cleans up the picture and colors, making for a gorgeous presentation.

For extras, Boogie Nights does not disappoint. This release includes two new interviews with Paul Thomas Anderson at the American Cinematheque Panel (Night 1 also includes John C. Rielly), 2 different commentaries (one with PTA; the other with the cast), a whole bevy of deleted scenes, equalling 30 minutes of cut footage, a music video from Michael Penn, and a collection of outtakes and extended sequences from John C. Reilly.

Boogie Nights is an out-and-out classic. Viewed at first as a bit of a “Scorsese xerox” at release, the proceeding years have been good to Boogie Nights, giving audiences time to see that this is something truly special, and a clear cinematic indicator of the creative powerhouse Paul Thomas Anderson was destined to be.

Available on 4K disc now!

The post BOOGIE NIGHTS Makes Its Dirk Diggler-Sized Debut On 4K! first appeared on Cinapse.

Here are 5 Alternative Christmas Movies For When You Need A Break From All The Sugary “Christmas Cheer”, & Need Something A Little Darker Than The Grinch.

Christmas week is upon us, folks! If you’re like me, you’re also coming up on week 4 of holiday movie watching (if you’re on week 8…your ways are alien to me). A whole month of schmaltzy Christmas movies, all about the importance of family and giving and being a kind and generous person, or, if you’re into the Hallmark stuff, about how your small town is just crawling with hot singles looking to meet you.

Either way, it can be a lot, with all that sweetness and messages of peace on earth giving you a sugar headache and a deep need for something a bit more hard edged. Well, look no further! I’ve put together a list of 5 Christmas movies that are anything but sappy; a mix of horror and action, with more well known titles and a couple deep cuts. 

Here are 5 Christmas movies to watch when you need a break from all that suffocating Christmas spirit, and just want to watch something a bit more twisted, that still has that Noel flair.

(I’d also like to call out the 5 “non-conventional Christmas Movies” we featured last year on Cinapse, including Cobra, Green Knight, Tokyo Godfathers, Children of Men, and Batman Returns. Make sure to check those out, as well!)

Black Christmas

I wanted to start off my list with what is easily the most recognizable title, Black Christmas. Directed by Bob Clark and released in 1974, Black Christmas has the reputation of being “Halloween before Halloween”, which isn’t a totally untrue statement, even though I’ve viewed it closer to the “broken America coming home to roost” themes of Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Black Christmas follows a group of Sorority Sisters over Christmas Break, who are stalked by an unseen intruder who makes lewd and frightening prank phone calls. Slowly but surely, the faceless killer starts to pick off the sisters one by one, until only one remains. Can the police save her? Or is her fate sealed?

Unlike Halloween, Black Christmas has sadly not had the same cultural footprint. While Halloween is a yearly staple every October, Black Christmas has the tough distinction of being a horror film based around a very not-horror holiday, so it’s fallen into more of a niche space.

Which deeply sucks, because, holy hell, Black Christmas is arguably one of the best horror films ever made! Not only is it genuinely scary (I’ve always found the monotone “I’ll kill you” before hanging up that first call to be incredibly frightening), but it is an out and out great film. It’s funny, sad, thrilling, terrifying. Bob Clark was a world class filmmaker, and his tight direction makes for an incredibly propulsive thriller, as more sorority girls go missing and the cops keep closing the net tighter and tighter around the killer (or are they?).

There is a sequence here, or more correctly, two sequences that make up the climax, that are among my favorite movie scenes of all time; a cat-and-mouse chase to trace a call through a giant call junction building, leading into an incredibly terrifying chase through a warmly lit sorority house, the numerous Christmas decorations juxtaposing the intense violent actions. Movie making at its absolute best.

If this is one of those titles you’ve been meaning to get around to for years, do yourself a favor this Christmas season and finally watch it. It’ll be worth it, even if you will forever fear darkened door jamb openings.

The Long Kiss Goodnight

Disclaimer: This’ll be the only Shane Black film on this list, because if I didn’t cut it off at one, the whole list would be Shane Black. Went with the one with actual snow on the ground!

The Long Kiss Goodnight is a story about family; both blood and the one you find along the way. It’s about making new memories, even when your old ones have faded. It’s about how, even during the holidays, the CIA is hard at work staging black flag operations to start illegal wars to increase their budgets. It’s about how, sometimes, a villain is such a prick that he needs to “die screaming”. And, it’s about how sometimes, a drawing of a duck can look like a dick to untrained eyes.

The Long Kiss Goodnight is a blockbuster pairing of Shane Black’s script with Renny Harlin’s direction, with a cast that is absolutely game for how bombastic the story gets. Geena Davis is Samantha Caine, an elementary school teacher with no memories of her past. That is, until government assassins start showing up at her home looking to kill her, where she also discovers she has a hidden talent for murder. Now, she must dig deeper into her past to see who she truly was, and how she is connected to a shadowy organization bent on chaos.

This thing is an absolute blast. Filled with gunfights, car chases, explosions, and dialogue that cracks like a whip, The Long Kiss Goodnight isn’t just a great Christmas movie, it’s also one of the best action movies of the ‘90s. Geena Davis is able to be both sultry and menacing here, playing an ice cold assassin lost in her own head for nearly a decade. Samuel L. Jackson puts in an incredible supporting performance, one of his more comedic roles, the type of role he doesn’t seem to get to play much anymore. The rest of the cast is made up of top tier character actors putting in top tier Noir performances.

If you’re looking to fill one of your holiday nights with violent gunfights, genuinely insane pyrotechnics, and one of the most satisfying villain deaths you’ll ever witness, check out The Long Kiss Goodnight!

Turbulence

Do you like Die Hard? How about Die Hard on a plane? How about instead of John McClane, you had Mary from Dumb and Dumber making the most bone-headed decisions you’ve ever seen, and instead of Hans Gruber, you have Ray Liotta giving one of the greatest unhinged villain performances of all time? That’s Turbulence, baby!

Turbulence starts out as a vastly different film. We open on Ryan Weaver (Ray Liotta) having his door kicked down and being arrested on charges of serial murder. Only, the arresting officer is corrupt and known for planting evidence, and Ryan is adamant that he is innocent. He, and another inmate, Stubbs (Brendan Gleason, trying his damndest to hide his British accent in a southern one, which gives us something closer to Creole), are flown back to California for trial, on an almost empty commercial flight on Christmas Day.

The plane is decked out in full Christmas regalia, never letting us forget what holiday it is (or what other action film from the past decade it wants you to associate it to…), creating a very surreal landscape as the film begins to twist and turn towards violence and destruction.

After a violent altercation on board, Stubbs is dead, as well as all the air marshals and both pilots. Now, flight attendant Teri Holloran (Lauren Holly) must figure out how to land the plane, while also deciding if she can trust Ryan, whose meek, quiet exterior seems to hide something more nefarious, as they begin a cat-and-mouse relationship of “trust”.

Which is all thrown completely out the window at about the 40 minute mark. Ray Liotta shifts from a quiet, polite man with a secret to a brash, screaming psychopath after one bad phone call, and stays an agent of complete and utter chaos from there on out. What was gearing up towards something more akin to a sexy thriller, instead becomes an extended Looney Tunes episode, as Liotta essentially becomes a gremlin, oscillating between drunkenly cackling to himself and ripping the plane apart with his bare hands. 

It’s made even more absurd by Teri’s actions, where she continuously puts herself in harms way for no discernable reason, constantly having to do battle with a living breathing cartoon, seemingly animated by pure grade columbian marching powder (there is a bit here, with Liotta standing outside a door, where he is wiggling his tongue and grinding his jaw so hard, I’m surprised he still had teeth).

I’ll end on this; one of FilmTwitters favorite questions is “what movie would you remake with the muppets?”, and I would honestly spend a small country’s GDP to see this remade with Liotta either being the only muppet or only person on the cast. RIP to an out and out acting legend.

The Day Of The Beast

With all this consumerism, sometimes we forget about the true meaning of Christmas; the birth of Jesus Christ, the lord and savior of the Christian religion. Well, The Day Of The Beast didn’t forget; but, this time, someone a little less nice and a little more full of hate for all mankind is being born during the Yuletide season.

The Day of The Beast follows Cura (Alex Angulo), a Catholic priest who has just learned that the Devil will be born on Christmas day. The only problem is, he doesn’t know where. The only way to reveal the Anti-Christ’s whereabouts is if Cura becomes evil himself. Thus, our small, meek priest begins his journey towards wickedness; he steals from the blind, pushes old women down, and listens to death metal. It’s not in his nature, as he winces with each sin, but it is the only way to stop evil from being born.

The Day of The Beast is an absolute hoot, man. Never taking itself too seriously, but also never allowing itself to fall into an out-and-out comedy, it’s able to walk a very delicate and unique line, where it is able to be funny, frightening, exciting, and bleak when it needs to be. 

It comes as no surprise, though; director Alex De La Iglesias has made a career out of films that walk this wire of genre and tone shifts. Films like Perdita Durango and The Last Circus are incredibly odd but fantastic films that deal with heavy subject matter (political assassination, spousal abuse, rape) in a way that can be darkly comedic, grotesquely frightening, and incredibly empathetic. 

The Day Of The Beast is no different, as Cura slowly starts to put together a team of “satanists” to help in his cause, including a heavy metalhead, Jose Maria (Santiago Segura), who wants to be evil more than anything, even though he doesn’t really have it in him, and a B-grade television host, Cavan (Armando De Razza), who doesn’t believe his own bullshit, why would he believe this? This ragtag group of sinners come together to do what no else could; stop Satan.

If you’re a fan of off-kilter foreign films, filled with cultural idiosyncrasies, gorgeous cinematography, and pitch black humor, The Day Of The Beast is a great film to ring in the new year with!

Deadly Games (AKA Dial Code Santa Claus)

I’ve saved the best (read: absolutely insane) for last! A French children’s film released in 1989, a few quick similarities will pop out at you; namely, how similar the film’s plot is to Home Alone, which was released a year after this. Plot points such as a young boy being left home alone, forced to defend his house against outside intruders, and using a combination of his wits and booby traps he’s set throughout the house. 

That’s where the similarities end though, because this thing is genuinely unhinged and deeply strange. Instead of living in a well off suburban home like Home Alone, our pint sized hero lives in a castle. Not “castle” as in a descriptor for a large home. “Castle” as in an actual, fairytale castle. Does it take place in a fantasy world? Nope! Everything else is regular ol’ late ‘80s Central Europe. 

He is also the heir to a toy company (which seems to be equal to a Fortune 50 enterprise-sized corporation in this world), so his play room is the size of an airplane hangar and includes rope bridges, mountains of toys dating back decades, and an actual derelict WWII-era fighter plane.

All goofy fun up to this point, right? Welp, meet the villain! instead of brutish but cartoonish burglars, said intruder here is just a straight up pedophile. Sure, it’s an implied sin, but boy howdy do they really make you squirm every time they “imply” it. What isn’t implied is that he’s also a murderer, as he cuts his way through the house staff, all while dressed as Santa, on his way to the boy (How does “Santa” even know about the castle, you ask? Why, by convincing the little tyke he was the real “Santa” through an online message board, that’s how! Again, real scuzzy at times, here).

And once said home invasion actually begins, it’s not the same sort of happy hijinks we’ve come to expect from our Christmas robberies. Nope, this is a genuinely frightening cat-and-mouse situation where our young child protagonist barely escapes every encounter, as our bloodied fake santa paints a rictus grin across his face as he chases the boy through surreal rooms filled with false walls and impossible corners. What started out like dreams of sugar plums quickly becomes an out-and-out nightmare of dead dogs, evil Santa’s, and grandfathers stuck in suits of armor. 

But, don’t worry; the film still stops here and there to give the boy a workout montage, as well as a tearful “funeral”. In all of this, I almost forgot to mention he is dressed as Rambo the entire film; not just military attire, but specifically “Rambo”.

Deadly Games is an absolutely insane genre mash-up, playing up wistful childhood fantasies against harrowing home invasion terrors. It can be playful and fantastical, while also being deeply mean-spirited and frightening. A film I could never recommend to an actual child, or really to any sort of sane adult. A film distinctly made for the sickos out there, that are always on the lookout for cinematic maleficence. If that sounds like you, pop on Deadly Games. But, maybe make sure the kids, and pretty much everyone else, is asleep first.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years from one Cinema Weirdo to another! 

The post 5 Alternative Christmas Films That’ll Put Coal In Your Stockings first appeared on Cinapse.