Connect with us

Published

on

Wow, January sure flew by fast! But guess what? It’s time to see what goodies Arrow is bringing to the small screen soon. Let’s find out!

Basically a picture of everything I talk about down below.

Feb 3rd: Robert Altman: Giggle and Give In and Made in the USA

February 3 Joyce documentaries about the American indie film scene: Robert Altman: Giggle and Give In and Made in the USA (both US/UK/CA/IRE). Joyce’s documentary profile of Altman, originally produced in 1996 includes contributions from Altman, Elliott Gould, Shelley Duvall, assistant director Alan Rudolph and screenwriter Joan Tewkesbury. 

Feb 3rd: Charles Band: The Puppetmaster

February 3: Charles Band: The Puppetmaster (UK/IRE/US/CA). Triple-threat writer-producer-director Charles Band has been pulling the strings making horror, sci-fi and fantasy features since the 70s and his films were a massive part of making the 1980s home video boom, well, boom.

Charles Band: The Puppetmaster brings together many of his wildest and most fun work, from murderous pint-sized puppets to re-animated horrors, from time-travelling Trancers to a terrifying Tourist Trap, and even the re-tooled Doctor Strange movie starring Jeffrey Combs as a slightly different sorcerer supreme. And I LOVE Jeffrey Combs!

Titles Include: Puppet Master, Doctor Mordrid, Trancers.

Advertisement

Feb 6: Killer Tech

February 6, while shopping for a gadget for your sweetheart, ARROW uploads Killer Tech (UK/IRE/US/CA) to the service.

We all want the latest gadgets, but in Killer Tech screen time means scream time.

From cursed videotapes and phone calls to the dangers of the dark web and vicious virtual reality, ARROW’s newest, smallest, lightest, fastest, most expensive curated collection doesn’t just have the best screen, largest amount of storage and the coolest camera – it also comes with a guarantee that the newest tech equals instant death.

Titles Include: .com For Murder, Laguna Ave, Edge of the Axe.

I recommend Edge of the Axe!

Advertisement

Feb 10: Cinematic Void Selects

 February 10, ARROW hands the keys to the kingdom to Cinematic Void, a Los Angeles-based cult film screening series into the mouth of cinemadness. Focusing on all oddball gems of all genres, the Void unleashes an onslaught of horror, eurotrash, exploitation and gonzo action on the silver screen at the American Cinematheque. CV film programmer Jim Branscome has selected a few of his favourite films of the genre for your viewing pleasure in Cinematic Void Selects.

Titles Include: Deadly Games, Deep Red.

Feb 14:

February 14 celebrates Valentine’s Day with the perfect pairing: the undead and the living dead.

Two Orphan Vampires (UK/IRE/US): A pair of teenage girls, who are blind by day, but when the sun goes down, they roam the streets to quench their thirst for blood.

Zombie Lake (UK/IRE/US): In a small village, somewhere in France, German soldiers, killed and thrown into the lake by the Resistance during WWII, come back.

Advertisement

Also Valentine’s Day:

Jean Rollin: The Fantastique Collection Part IV (UK/IRE/US).

Led by the brand new and exclusive documentary from filmmakers Kat Ellinger and Dima Ballin, Orchestrator of Storms: The Fantastique World Of Jean Rollin, welcome to ARROW’s final volume of horrifying dream-like sauce from the master of conjuring up erotic nightmare fuel, Jean Rollin, The Fantastique Collection Part IV.

Titles Include: The Living Dead Girl, Lost in New York, Dracula’s Fiancee.

Feb 17: The French Hitchcock: Claude Chabrol

February 17, with The French Hitchcock: Claude Chabrol (UK/IRE/US).

For five decades Claude Chabrol navigated the unpredictable waters of cinema, leaving in his wake more than fifty feature films that remain among the most quietly devastating genre movies ever made. Sardonic, provocative, and unsettling, Chabrol’s films cut to the quick with a clarity and honesty honed to razor sharpness.

Advertisement

Though influenced by Fritz Lang, Alfred Hitchcock and Jean Renoir, Chabrol’s voice was entirely and assuredly his own, influencing in turn filmmakers like Bong Joon-ho, James Gray and Dominik Moll. His amused, unblinkered view of life and refusal to judge his characters makes his films timelessly relevant and accessible to all.

Dark, witty, ruthless, mischievous: if you’ve never seen Chabrol before, you’re in for a treat.

Titles Include: Cop au vin, Madame Bovary (1991), The Swindle.

Feb 24: King of Karate: The Sonny Chiba Collection

February 24 hits it off with King of Karate: The Sonny Chiba Collection (UK/IRE/US/CA).

Put up your dukes and prepare yourselves for brutal and lightning-fast martial arts action starring the King of Karate: Sonny Chiba.

Advertisement

Whether you’ve only heard of Sonny through Clarence and Alabama’s True Romance triple-bill, have seen him sword-making for The Bride in Kill Bill, or know Shinichi Chiba from way back in the 70s martial arts boom where his lethal mastery of karate, judo and kenpo made him an in-demand anti-hero to legions of fans, there’s plenty of bruising bad-assery to be had in King of Karate: The Sonny Chiba Collection.

Titles Include: The Street Fighter, Wolf Guy, Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Hiroshima Death Match.

Feb 28: Millionaires’ Express 

February 28 closes out the shortest month of the year with Millionaires’ Express (US/CA).

All aboard for the all-star action-packed adventure of a lifetime as martial arts maestro Sammo Hung (Heart of Dragon) brings East and West crashing spectacularly together in Millionaires’ Express!

Sammo himself plays Ching Fong-tin, a former outlaw with a wild scheme to make amends with the citizens of his struggling hometown of Hon Sui: explosively derail a brand new luxury express train en route from Shanghai so that its super-rich passengers will have no choice but to spend money in the town. He’s not the only one with eyes on the passengers’ deep pockets, however; a gang of ruthless bank-robbing bandits are on the way, looking for a priceless map being guarded by a trio of Japanese samurai. Bullets and fists will fill the air in equal measure, but will Hon Sui Town be left standing?

Advertisement
Jean Rollin Collection promotional. It's kinda trippy.

Head over to ARROW to start watching now.

Subscriptions are available for $6.99 monthly or $69.99 yearly. 

ARROW is available in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland on the following Apps/devices: Roku (all Roku sticks, boxes, devices, etc), Apple TV & iOS devices, Samsung TVs, Android TV and mobile devices, Fire TV (all Amazon Fire TV Sticks, boxes, etc), and on all web browsers at https://www.arrow-player.com.

ARROWEssentials curates collections based on genre, decades and themes; and ARROWStories takes a fresh look at the world of film and TV with exclusive documentaries, interviews and video essays diving deeper into the many curated seasons and titles on the platform for a richer and deeper viewing experience.

With a slickly designed and user-friendly interface, and an unparalleled roster of quality content from westerns to giallo to Asian cinema, trailers, Midnight Movies, filmmaker picks and much, much more, ARROW is the place to go for the very best in on-demand entertainment.

ARROW is also home to ARROW Stories – an ever-growing collection of interviews, trailers, documentaries and additional extras, both newly created exclusives for the service and from the company’s extensive archives. The service will be updated regularly with fresh content, new curation focuses and never-before-seen content, all selected by the ARROW team as well as the filmmakers themselves. With a slickly designed and user-friendly interface ARROW is the new alternative place to go for the very best in On-Demand entertainment.

Advertisement

Be on the look-out because in the coming months, ARROW will be adding Oscar-winning hits, European classics, Asian cinema masterworks, rediscovered Westerns, offbeat gems and much more as part of ARROW’s international strategy to support and celebrate the medium of film.

When not ravaging through the wilds of Detroit with Jellybeans the Cat, J.M. Brannyk (a.k.a. Boxhuman) reviews mostly supernatural and slasher films from the 70's-90's and is dubiously HauntedMTL's Voice of Reason. Aside from writing, Brannyk dips into the podcasts, and is the composer of many of HauntedMTL's podcast themes.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Movies n TV

Goosebumps, You Can’t Scare Me

Published

on

Episode eight of Goosebumps felt more like a season finale. Frequently when shows do this, it leads to a lackluster final episode in which it feels like everything has already been said, the monster is already vanquished, and we’re just tidying everything up. But hopefully, the creators remember the number one rule of a horror franchise. The monster is never really dead.

Cover for Goosebumps You Can't Scare Me!

The story

We begin our story with everyone in hot water. Well, at least in a notebook that’s just been damaged by cold puddle water.

After a frankly hilarious battle between Biddle and Bratt for the body, Nathan manages to draw a door in the notebook for the teens to escape. Unfortunately, he is sucked back into the notebook.

Back in the real world, the kids head to Nora’s cabin to save her. But Biddle reaches her first. Possibly because a helpful sheriff tells him right where her cabin is.

Advertisement

ACAB.

Biddle finds Nora before she can hide Slappy somewhere in the deep woods. She takes off but is having a difficult time losing him. He does eventually take Slappy, leaving Nora in a dangerous position.

Luke and Margot manage to find her but lose Isaiah in the process. Isaiah has fallen down a cliff face and is clinging to it for dear life.

And this is where he is when Slappy and Biddle find him.

What worked

Advertisement

The first thing I have to mention is that this was a great episode for parent/child relations. I loved that Harold’s parents knew he wasn’t to blame. I loved that they’d been waiting for him all this time, so they could go into the afterlife together.

Rachael Harris in Goosebumps.

Luke and Nora had a good moment as well. Honestly, it appears that everyone had an honest discussion with their kids or parents at some point because of this.

I also really loved the musical choices in this episode. This has been a bit of an issue this season so far, but this was a great example. I especially enjoyed the instrumental version of Sweet Dreams played during high-conflict moments. Honestly, has there ever been a bad version of that song?

Overall, this was a satisfying episode. Nora was finally vindicated. Nathan finally has his body back, and Harold Biddle is free.

It makes me wonder what they’re going to do with the rest of the season. Or at least it would if the next episode wasn’t titled Night of The Living Dummy Two.

What didn’t work

Advertisement

One thing about this episode did irritate me, though. Once it’s established that Biddle and Nora are in the woods, everyone takes off after them. And for some reason, no one remembered that cell phones existed. We know the teens have their phones, that was made painfully clear in the car scene. Why did no one, not one soul, consider calling Nora instead of running around in the snow yelling for her? And when Isaiah vanished, why didn’t he call someone? Why didn’t they call him?

This would have been an easy fix. There’s a snowstorm. We could have just mentioned that someone tried to call and cell lines were down. Instead, every character seemed to have just forgotten that modern technology exists and we don’t have to run around shouting for people if they get lost in the forest with their phone.

All in all, though, this was a good episode. I’m not sure yet how I feel about there being two episodes left, I’ll admit. But I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens. This has been a good season so far. Let’s hope they stick the landing.

4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

Advertisement

If you’re a fan of my work, please check out my latest story, Nova, on Paper Beats World. New chapters launch every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Continue Reading

Movies n TV

Goosebumps, Give Yourself Goosebumps

Published

on

This episode of Goosebumps is named after the Choose Your Own Adventure spinoff books. Also known as my favorite way to spend an afternoon as a kid.

Cover from Give Yourself Goosebumps

I still have some of these. I can tell you what they smell like. They smell like childhood joy.

It was nice to be reminded of these wonderful times. It was even better that I was reminded in this wild ride of an episode.

The Story

We begin our tale with the revelation that Mr. Bratt is actually Harold Biddle. And to make sure these meddling kids don’t spoil his plan, he’s trapped them inside of his notebook. The notebook looks very much like the living room of the cabin.

Advertisement

There, the teens find the real Mr. Bratt. He’s been trapped in the notebook since Biddle took over his body. And he hasn’t made much headway in escaping.

Meanwhile, Nora is finally being released from the psych ward. And she is not thrilled with Victoria. Seeing as how Victoria has been drugging her, this is understandable.

But Nora is done being passive now. She heads right to her garage and packs Slappy up in a canvas sack. Why Slappy was in her garage, where her child hangs out, is beyond me. But here we are.

As she’s trying to leave, Colin finds her. He’s rightfully looking for some answers. But he’s not going to get it from her. She informs him that she has to handle something, and she cannot explain what’s going on. Then she drives off with Slappy.

Poor Colin, looking for some support, goes to see Isaiah’s dad, Ben. He lays out the whole situation, looking for support.

Advertisement

But Ben hears something else in Colin’s tale of woe. He hears that Slappy is free. And so he takes off, leaving Colin sitting in his living room alone with no answers.

Colin has got to be wondering why he’s still living in this town at this point.

Back in the notebook, Nathan and the teens realize that if Nathan is hurt, he goes back into his own body. This leads to a wonderfully funny scene of the kids taking turns punching him in the face.

Still from Give Yourself Goosebumps.

Eventually, he gets partial control of his body. But Biddle is still there, and still ready to do battle. And when the notebook is tossed out the window and lands in a puddle, the kids find themselves in an even worse situation.

What worked

I want to start by praising a subtle detail that absolutely blew me away. Right before the teens realize they’re no longer in the real world, there’s a color shift. The whole picture becomes a bit browner. Again, it was subtle. But it was such a wonderful transition.

Advertisement

I also want to bring attention to Justin Long, again. His acting in this season has been so laugh-out-loud funny. In this episode, we saw him jumping back and forth between Nathan Bratt and Harold Biddle in the blink of an eye. Or, the time it took Isabella to punch him. The way he flops around, is clearly either not comfortable or not in control of his body. It’s a delight.

Finally, despite the number of grownups who are now involved, the kids are still clearly the heroes. They are the ones working together, sharing information, and trying to fix their situation before they die. They are not waiting for rescue, like Mr. Bratt. They are not ignoring the problem. They are not working with Slappy, as I suspect one of the parents might be. The kids, in this show, are alright. And they are certainly the good guys.

This season just gets better and better. And the best part is that Slappy isn’t even awake yet. We haven’t released the big bad. And the good guys are already overwhelmed. So what are they going to do when Slappy is back?

4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

Advertisement

If you’re a fan of my work, please check out my latest story, Nova, on Paper Beats World. New chapters launch every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Continue Reading

Movies n TV

Goosebumps, Night of The Living Dummy

Published

on

After the very alluring ending to the last episode of Goosebumps, this one had a lot to live up to. It is also, of course, named for possibly the best-known Goosebumps book. Night of The Living Dummy is the book that gave the series its mascot character, and our primary antagonist, Slappy the Dummy. It’s safe to say that this episode was going to change the course of the season. And I’m happy to say that it lived up to all of those expectations.

If you’re into detailed, elaborate, multigenerational backstories, then this episode is going to be a real treat.

The story

After Biddle/Mr. Bratt invites the kids inside, he sits them down on the couch and starts to tell them an elaborate backstory. This story begins with his great-great-great-grandfather, Ephraim Biddle.

Slappy in Goosebumps

Ephraim was a failing magician until he finds Slappy the Dummy in a magic shop. After accidentally bringing Slappy to life (do not repeat strange words you find on a piece of paper out loud) his act takes off. Eventually, though, he discovers that Slappy has plans to hurt people. And so he bricks him up in the wall of his basement.

Years later, Harold Biddle and his parents move in. And Slappy calls to Harold, who was bullied at his last school. He’s worried that he’ll be bullied again. Slappy talked to those fears. And, as is too often the case, this worked like a cursed charm.

Advertisement

What worked

I’d like to start with how our main characters responded to Harold Biddle’s tale. Because I loved it possibly as much as he hated it. But they are correct when they say that their parents weren’t to blame for what happened to Harold.

They didn’t bully him. They took him into their group, or at least they tried to. And after Harold stood up on stage and aired out their secrets, Nora was quick to defend him. They even wanted to protect him from Slappy.

And yes, their actions caused his house to catch on fire. But they would have gone back and saved him if it hadn’t been too late.

I felt so bad that Harold’s unhappiness was completely self-fulfilling. He assumed people would hate him, so he didn’t give them a chance. This is a lesson we don’t see much of.

Of course, the bulk of this episode’s greatness came right in the last few minutes. This ending was perfect.

Advertisement

When Margot asks “How do you know all of this, Mr. Bratt?” And his response is, “That’s right, the twist,” that was it for me. Because of course, Goosebumps books were always known for that last killer twist. And I think we all love a good fourth-wall joke around here.

This, of course, led us to the big reveal. And this was perfect. It was a cool line. The effects were flawless. The kids’ reactions were hilarious and completely understandable.

Oftentimes in horror, when we finally see the monster it can be a bit of a letdown. Stephen King talks about this struggle in Dance Macabre. When we can’t see the monster, it’s the worst thing we can imagine. After we see it, we often realize it isn’t that bad. It might even be unintentionally funny.

Because the point of this scene isn’t really the monster’s revelation to the audience but is instead focused on the revelation to the characters, it works much better.

What didn’t work

Sadly, the rest of the episode didn’t work quite as well. Starting with the flashback to Ephraim Biddle. While I understand the value of this story, it was slow. It wasn’t nearly as interesting as the rest of the episode or the season. It certainly dragged this episode down. Which isn’t to say the actors didn’t do a fine job. It was just that the story itself was a little dull.

Advertisement
Cover for Goosebumps, Night of The Living Dummy.

Finally, though, I have one primary complaint. And this has been an issue I’ve had with the season so far.

If Slappy was supposed to be a big mid-season surprise, maybe he shouldn’t have been plastered on every single bit of advertising for this season. It took some of the joy away honestly. When we first saw the dummy-sized case, we all knew who it was going to be, because we’d already seen his face. Worse, Slappy’s appearance couldn’t be a surprise, because we saw him as soon as we knew the show was going to happen. It took some potential fun away to have that expectation already established.

That being said, this was still a fun episode. And it certainly left me eager to see what’s going to happen next.

4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

If you’re a fan of my work, please check out my latest story, Nova, on Paper Beats World. New chapters launch every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Trending