Is July a well known dumping ground of STD flicks and no one ever told me? It takes until the fourth of the five weeks of July to put anything good out, but when that week comes, film geek wallets everywhere should be a bit lighter.
July 3rd:
Excuse the brevity, but not only is there nothing worth writing about this week, there is nothing worth writing about twice, so I’ll be even quicker than when I first wrote this up before accidentally closing it without having saved it.
Dead Man’s Hand, Mummy Maniac and some Drive-In Horror Series. The first has Sid Haig in at some point, the latter two I’ve no clue about. The final STDer of the week is Ghoulies IV, which premiered on VHS back in 1993. I have a confession about my reaction to Ghoulies II when I was a child, but I shan’t confess it now.
I was, initially, keeping an eye on one of Sci-Fi’s more light-hearted originals, "Eureka", but slowly stopped watching. Not out of any malevolence, sheer negligence. I’ve heard it eventually really came into itself, so now may be a decent enough time to Netflix season 1 on up.
July 10th:
Brutal is, likely, not brutal at all. Brutal is, likely, the word that will describe the watching experience.
TV Front: The very funny "Extras": Season 2 and "Blue Planet" in HD. I already own "Blue Planet", but I’ll be double dipping for the HD DVD set.
July 17th:
Finally, a bit closer to some horror that can muster some kind, no matter how small, of interest. The Hills Have Eyes 2, in both rated and unrated flavors. It drizzled at the BO, failed critically, but I’ll still watch out of pure habit.
But that smaller interest once again fades: Haunted Boat, Mr. Halloween, Premonition. One of those is an actual studio production, but the quality is probably going to be the same across the board.
July 24th:
Banking on the reintroduction of the word into popular culture, something called the Grindhouse Experience boasts ’20 Film Features’ into one set. Can’t vouch for how well it relays the "Grindhouse Experience", but if you’re going for quantity, that’s a tough number to beat.
And now the good stuff: The Host (review), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (review), and The Monster Squad (review)! I really don’t need to sell these films, if you’re reading this site you’ve probably heard of them all before hand. My only further recommendations, other than you purchase all three of these, is that The Host will also be available in HD and Perfume is available on HD DVD from Germany and happens to be one of the best looking film transfers I’ve ever seen.
Zodiac isn’t really horror, but it is David Fincher and it is the best thing he has ever directed. Tremendously detailed and thoroughly fascinating throughout every frame.
Oh, and "Tales from the Crypt": Season Six.
July 31st:
Rounding out the month is the popular phenomenon that is 300, selectable in every definition and every format. STD’er Dead Clowns, whose title doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.
Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright bring it on back with Hot Fuzz, which coincides with the HD DVD of Shaun of the Dead. The former isn’t as good as the latter, but it is still pretty hilarious all the same with a side-splitting last half.
Worth Buying Blind
"Blue Planet" in HD
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
The Monster Squad
The Host
Worth Renting
Zodiac
Hot Fuzz
300
Peter forgot to mention Dora The Explorer: Summer Explorer available July 3rd on DVD. You can pre-order now on Amazon.
David Fincher is pretty much my favorite human being in the world. That being said, I’m not sure about Zodiac earning the “best thing he has directed” title. Did you miss Seven during its theatrical and two-sided flippy DVD run? Even if you did I’m sure you picked up the big special edition deal. You should watch it again.
Good call on Hot Fuzz. That last 30 minutes is one of the most enjoyable movie-going experiences I’ve had.