by David Cornelius
The best thing you can do while renting from a video store is take a chance. The greatest personal discoveries come not from your picking whatever the latest big new release is, or from your choosing to get the same Julia Roberts comedy you’ve seen seven times before, but from grabbing a movie that you didn’t even know existed. There are great treasures out there, and even if you have to wade through a pile of cinematic garbage to get to them, the hunt’s worth the effort. With this column, I’ll be helping you find those gems by doing the wading for you - through my own local video shops, the wonders of Netflix, and my own personal collection of the underseen, I’ll take the chances on the unknown, both new and old.
I’ll get to the older stuff next time around, but for starters, I though a nice intro to this column would be to look back at some of the better direct-to-video releases of 2004. You know, direct-to-video (“DTV”) gets a hard time from just about everybody; like the drive-in and backroads theater circuits of yesteryear, the video market is generally seen as today’s dumping ground for the unwanted and the unreleasable. True, that’s where many a film gets unceremoniously tossed by a studio unwilling to risk a money-losing theatrical run. And true, that’s also where many a cheapie studio whips up low budget sci-fi, horror, and action junkers, most of them starring your Richard Griecos, your Shannon Tweeds, and your Coolios, since the video market is a great place to make a quick buck on a low investment.
But while that’s most of what DTV (or “nontheatrical,” as people trying to break the stigma of DTV call it; I say a name change won’t help your cause) has to offer, there is, in fact, much more. Hidden among the Ice-T actioners and the Stephen Baldwin thrillers are some genuinely fine movies - and 2004 was a better year than usual. Not just for Disney, either, although their recent collection of sequels and other dumped efforts did come off as far better than, say, the lameness of “Lady and the Tramp II.” Here now are ten better-than-you-think DTV efforts, my favorites for this year.
“Stark Raving Mad” and “Foolproof” are both examples of why some DTV movies are better than others. Both films were planned as theatrical releases (read: bigger budget, bigger goals from the filmmakers), both even received big screen runs outside the U.S. But both then got dumped onto video, which made them look far worse, reputation-wise, than they actually are. These two caper flicks make an interesting double bill, as they each feature a smartass lead (“Stark” has Seann William Scott, “Foolproof” features Ryan Reynolds) who wisecracks his way through an intricate heist. Both films have their fair share of nifty twists and clever surprises, and both contain the proper balance of laughs and thrills, if I can say that without sounding like some quote whore. These flicks are a blast, highly recommended to anyone looking for a solid comedy caper.
Speaking of movies that played overseas, “Vampire Effect,” “Beyond Hypothermia,” and “Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.” were all produced and released in their various Asian markets, then got imported Stateside only for a video release. That’s a different kind of DTV that’s not looked down upon as much (depending on the title), although the Asian action genre is still such a niche that some titles never get as much attention as they should. I’ve chosen for this list three distinctly different works: the first is a horror-action-comedy that’s smarter than you expect (and with a Jackie Chan cameo, too!); the second, your typical Asian shoot-’em-up, about (yes, again) a female assassin, with thrills sharp enough to compensate for the over-familiarity of the plot; and the last is a movie that will get passed over merely because it is a rubber suit monster movie, to which I say take a look anyway, because it’s a very good rubber suit monster movie.
Now let’s skip to the other less-derided section of DTV: the animated feature. Disney’s been working overtime to make their video line as strong a moneymaker as their theatrical line, and for a while, it wasn’t looking good - parents were buying crap like “Tarzan & Jane” not because their kids liked it, but because it was new. This year’s releases fared better, thanks to a smarter-than-expected “Lion King 1½” and a light, rompish take on “The Three Musketeers” that makes for some quickie cartoon fun. However, my pick for this article comes not from Disney, but from rivals Warner Bros., whose line of animated superheroes has left us with some of the best kidvid in recent memory. Their glory days continue with “Justice League: Starcrossed,” which could have been just some cheapie spin-off from the hit TV series, but instead became a fine piece of comic book adventure all its own. “Starcrossed” is further proof that the best kidvid is made not for children, but for everyone, and if you still have a place in your heart for those Superfriends, why not see what they’re up to nowadays?
The final four on my list is a variety pack, including two unreleased theatricals, a thriller that landed a TV release the week before its video premiere, and the latest addition to a mildly profitable DTV series. Let’s do that last one first: “Tremors 4: The Legend Begins” was (like many DTV efforts) a big surprise, mainly because (again, like many DTV efforts) I thought it was going to blow. After all, “Tremors 3” did little for me, and I expected the series to die out. Then came “The Legend Begins,” which took the franchise and dumped it in the Old West, of all places. The result was a fresh start for the series, and a giddy ride not only for “Tremors” fans, but for anyone looking for ninety minutes of silly monster goodness.
Another effort I thought would suck like a Hoover: “Frankenfish.” The title alone says it all, yes? Surely, this movie was bound to be laughable crap from start to finish. What nobody expected, however, is that it would turn out to be a pretty groovy little thriller, a medium budget effort with a nice cast, a smart script, and a director who understands the rhythms of the horror-adventures genre. It’s a good movie that just happened to land an awful title, making it the year’s most unexpected pleasant surprise. If you can’t find it on video, keep an eye out on the Sci-Fi Channel, where it’s been playing some ten times a week lately.
On to the unreleased theatricals. Stuart Gordon’s “King of the Ants” is nothing like the video box art would suggest; instead of the sick horror the artwork implies (note the none-too-subtle mentions of Gordon’s “Re-Animator”), “Ants” is instead a smart little revenge fantasy, one slipping between action and drama (and the occasional gratuitous nudity) on its own terms. This is a genre-bender, something the freedom of DTV allows, and well worth a look, especially for Gordon fans.
My final pick is “Quicksand,” which (as is the case with many DTV titles) sat around on studio shelves for three - count ‘em, three - long years before getting dumped without fanfare into video stores. What’s strange is that while this usually happens to lousier works, this film, which stars Michael Keaton and Michael Caine, might have been a modest success had it been granted a proper release. This mid-size thriller has its fair share of smart twists and eyebrow-raising mystery, working on intelligent writing instead of a big budget and big effects. More clever thrillers have been made, to be sure, but “Quicksand” offers a decent ninety minutes of entertainment, something many theatrical releases never bother to do.
The bad news, of course, is that to name ten films, that doesn’t leave many off from 2004 that I’d still recommend. DTV is still a wasteland, and the only way to change this is to support the few quality works that seep through the system every year. Find a good DTV title? Let your friends know. Oh, and let me know, too. Hidden gems do little good by remaining hidden, so share the wealth!
link directly to this feature at http://www.hollywoodbitchslap.com/feature.php?feature=1263
originally posted: 12/20/04 13:05:46
last updated: 02/11/05 20:06:13
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