BOILING POINT - LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY review

Starring the always excellent Stephen Graham as a head chef having the worst night of his career, Philip Barantini's Boiling Point is now out on a limited edition blu-ray from Second Sight.

Set over the course (or is that three courses?) of one disastrous evening and filmed in one continuous take, Philip Barantini's tense, real-time thriller - expanded from his short film that also starred Graham as head chef Andy - is a masterclass in stacking problems on the shoulders of its main character and then waiting for him to buckle. As Andy's problems go from bad to worse, with family issues, a damaging EHO visit and the news that celebrity chef and his former mentor Alistair Skye (a delightfully weaselly Jason Flemyng) will be dining that night, tempers and temperatures flare up and harsh truths are spoken between the staff. It's like watching a pile of plates getting progressively higher, knowing that when it comes down it's going to be with an almighty crash.

Shot by cinematographer Matthew Lewis, the single unbroken camera shot (no sneaky edits here) glides around the kitchen and between the tables in the restaurant, eavesdropping on the kitchen and front of house teams, quickly laying bare all the micro-aggressions and rivalries that exist between them. And that's before we get to the rude, demanding customers whose snobberies and prejudices are presented as an amuse-bouche for the waiting staff to enjoy with a smile, waiting to see what demands they'll serve as a main course. Barantini's script (co-written with James Cummings) contains so many delicious morsels of nightmare fuel that anyone who's ever worked with serving the general public will find all too familiar - even when it reaches its dramatic extremes. It's absolutely recognisable that a customer will be passive aggressively racist to a member of staff, and when they send their food back to the kitchen for the member of staff to be told by the kitchen that it's their fault; or for the front of house staff to promise more (in this case, a group of obnoxious influencers who want to order steak and chips that aren't on the menu) than the kitchen is able to deliver. It's in these wince-inducing moments that the film is at its heart-pounding best.

It's near impossible to take your eyes of Stephen Graham, wearing the weight of his troubles across his face, but all the main cast (Ray Panthaki, Jason Flemyng, Hannah Walters, Alice Feetham and especially Vinette Robinson as sous chef Carly) give fantastic performances in a film that packs an almost unbearable amount of tension into its 92 minutes runtime. Even when there's brief interludes that focus on the side characters (presumably to allow the main cast to take deep breaths before diving back into the story), we're never far from the chaos and heat of the kitchen.

Filmed at Jones & Sons, a real restaurant in Dalston, Boiling Point is an impressive technical achievement that steers clear of the flashier camera work of other one shot films (Gasper Noe's Irreversible and Climax, for example) to deliver something more raw, frenzied and real world. And even if it's pretty clear early on where some of the main plot threads are headed, that only adds to the feeling of impending doom in this pressure cooker atmosphere. Like working a shift from hell where you hit the ground running and don't stop for two hours, knowing that you have no choice but to soldier on regardless, Boiling Point is tense, dramatic and all too relatable.

Verdict

4/5

Released in the now customary 'rigid slipcase' that make all Second Sight releases absolute shelf porn for any collector, the only real disappointment in the special features is the absence of Stephen Graham from the commentaries, and the choice to not include the original BIFA nominated short film, although there's plenty of snippets in the thorough making of featurette.

Special Features

- Commentary with producers Hester Ruoff, Bart Ruspoli and writer James Cummings

- Commentary with actors Ray Panthaki and Jason Flemyng

- Boiling Over: An interview with producer Hester Ruoff

- Pot Boiler: An interview with producer Bart Ruspoli

- Simmering Steady: An interview with writer James Cummings

- The Making of Boiling Point

Limited Edition also includes -

- Rigid slipcase

- A 70 page book with new essays by Howard Gorman, Clarisse Loughrey and Christina Newland, plus interviews with cinematographer Matthew Lewis by Matthew Thrift

- Collectable art cards

THE GUEST - LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY review

Released just in time for Halloween (trust me, it makes sense), the latest film to get the boxset treatment from Second Sight, Adam Wingard's The Guest is out now in a limited edition 4K UHD format.

When soldier David (Dan Stevens) turns up at their door claiming to be an army buddy of their deceased son Caleb, the Petersons invite him into their home to stay. As David ingratiates himself with the family through his old-fashioned charm, politeness and willingness to help out around the house, Anna (Maika Monroe) starts to become suspicious of his motivations for being there, but when David puts his military training to use by protecting Luke (Brendan Myers) from school bullies, it's clear the family has no idea what kind of person they've allowed into their home.

On paper there were no sure signs that The Guest would turn out to be a success. Director Adam Wingard had made some ultra low budget horrors, like the excellent single location thriller You're Next and contributions to the V/H/S short film collections; and sure, Dan Stevens had gained a devoted following by way of his role in TV's Downton Abbey, but a quick leap to action movie star would be seen as unlikely by even the most optimistic of his fans. Which makes it all the more of an achievement that The Guest is as compelling and as fun as it is, mixing genre tropes, subverting expectations and serving a healthy dose of John Carpenter infused nostalgia into its winning mix.

When the mysterious David meets the Petersons, they're all struggling to deal with the loss of Caleb, bottling up their emotions and not sharing their grief with other members of their family, instead living their own separate lives as four people in the same house. This changes on David's arrival, who at first charms matriarch Laura (Sheila Kelley), seeing in him the damaged soldier she wishes she still had in son Caleb, unlike father Spencer (Leland Orser), who sees David as a potentially dangerous intrusion on his life, before eventually finding some level of camaraderie with him. But it's the lives of Caleb's younger brother and sister who David has the most impact on, stepping in to confront a group of Luke's bullies like a guardian angel, and socialising with Anna and her friends, much to her immediate disapproval.

A stronger, more confident person than the meek Luke, David is comfortable in being the protector/surrogate big brother, who, not unlike Arnie in Terminator 2, has violent methods to get his point across, as evidenced in the film's stand out bar fight scene. Likewise for some of the undesirable characters Anna associates with, David has no qualms in showing them what he's capable of, whether it's carrying kegs into a house party or stripping a handgun down to its component parts in seconds and then putting it back together again to make sure it has the power he wants and will shortly need.

It's at these moments where David offers true glimpses of who he is (and what he's capable of), that The Guest really comes alive. To reveal too much of his backstory would be to spoil too much of the mystery the film cultivates for him, however it's fair to say that this film does not end up where you think it might after the opening scenes. Written by frequent Adam Wingard collaborator Simon Barrett, The Guest openly riffs on John Carpenter's back catalogue (not just via the synth based score), cherry picking ideas and twisting them into something new, all the while maintaining the same tension building exercises Carpenter perfected in films like Halloween and Assault on Precinct 13. What if, instead of a blank faced William Shatner masked killer, it was a charming, handsome, polite young gentlemen who came home that night? And what if he also had the capacity to unflinchingly do away with those in the way of his goal - in this case preserving the well-being of the Peterson family?

The Guest is a film that openly skates close to the edge of ludicrousness, but does so with a knowing wink and a charming smile. The Carpenter riffs are plain to see for any fans of his late '70s and early '80s output (look out for Halloween masks at the school dance), with some Terminator vibes to boot, but newcomers can also appreciate the conspiracy thriller aspects of the story, and the top performances from Maika Monroe (who followed this with It Follows, which is one hell of a one-two punch to get yourself instant Scream Queen hall of fame status) and Dan Stevens, delivering an unexpectedly cool and seductive performance that must have left many a Downton fan scratching their heads. Come the finale, the film doesn't quite stick its landing (in part due to the lack of a sequel it clearly sets up, but that sadly never materialised) and leaves us wanting more time spent with these characters. But, seven years after the original release, The Guest deserves a re-introduction, and with this super collectable edition, he's dressed to impress.

Verdict

4/5

SPECIAL FEATURES

 - New commentary by director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett

 - Archive commentary by director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett

 - The Uninvited Guest: A great new interview with Dan Stevens

 - A Perfect Stranger: A new interview with Maika Monroe

 - By Invitation Only: A new interview with Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett

 - Producing The Guest: A new interview with producers Keith Calder & Jess Wu Calder

 - Light & Fog: A new interview with director of photography Robby Baumgartner

 - Lighting Strikes: A new interview with production designer Tom Hammock

 - The Sounds of The Guest: A new interview with composer Steve Moore

 - Deleted/Alternate scenes & Outtakes with optional director commentary

LIMITED EDITION:

 - Rigid slipcase

 - Soundtrack CD

 - 160 page book with new essays by Tim Coleman, Zena Dixon, Craig Ian Mann and Zoe Rose Smith. Script to screen with storyboards and script extracts, behind the scenes photos and Adam Wingard soundtrack notes.

 - 6 collectable art cards

LAKE MUNGO - LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY review

Following the tragic drowning of teenager Alice Palmer, her family try to process their grief and guilt over her death, as well as uncover the source of the strange noises they've heard from her bedroom and around the house via the recording equipment set up by her brother Mathew. Told via a series of confessional interviews with Alice's family, their hired psychic Ray and those closest to them, we find that there was more to Alice's life and death than first appears.

If you're unfamiliar with Joel Anderson's found footage/psuedo-documentary classic Lake Mungo, don't worry, you're not alone. But I've got good news for you... it's not only excellent, but also possibly going to be your new favourite horror. Under appreciated on its initial release back in 2008, Lake Mungo has since taken on mythical status among horror nerds and film twitter due to its series of slow burn shocks, revelations and constant toying with our expectations. Largely dismissed at the time, perhaps due to its slightly odd title and an assumption it was another of the found footage knock-offs that sprang up in the wake of Paranormal Activity's break-out success, Lake Mungo stands alone as an inventive, truly surprising film that's not only a complete joy to discover, but also to share with a new audience.

And so it's good news the film has finally been given the home entertainment release it deserves, after a couple of releases with covers that were either nondescript or far too flashy (and with a tagline that got the details of the film wrong), we now have some new artwork and a limited edition "rigid slipcase" that's like catnip for any blu-ray collector. The latest in a line of impressive releases from Second Sight (both Raw and Dawn of the Dead are must buys), they've taken the opportunity to dig into the film and its legacy in the extras, via new interviews with genre directors like Host's Rob Savage and Spring/Synchronic's Benson & Moorhead. Also included on the disc are a couple of new video essays, interviews with the producer and cinematographer, and a pair of new and vintage commentaries.

As for the film itself, 13 years after its original release (and approaching ten years since I first reviewed it) it holds up as a film that could only have been made at that particular technological point in time, with grainy photographs and pixellated phone camera footage adding to the whole aesthetic that makes this feel all too close to real life. The cast - all unknowns unless you're oddly familiar with Australian serial dramas - are all immensely likeable and believable as a family, even if one or two of their actions push up against the limits of plot contrivance, clearly only there to give us another unforeseeable twist. But overall it's an expertly crafted film, delivering real shocking moments as it zooms into images we've previously seen to offer new revelations, with an ability to chill your bones like no other film has before.

Upfront about its reverence to David Lynch's Twin Peaks and its prequel film Fire Walk With Me (the family are even called the Palmers for chrissakes), the spectre of the troubled Alice - whether real, fake or somewhere in between - lives large in Lake Mungo, and as we find out more about her life in the lead up to her death, it's a compelling, surprising and often deeply mournful film, albeit one with the capacity to deliver real, long lasting scares that will live on in your mind once the film ends. A genuine cult classic that deserves to be loved by a willing audience - don't be fooled into thinking this is a mere clone of Paranormal Activity and the like, be brave enough to step into Lake Mungo cold and be completely swept up by it.

Verdict

4/5

SPECIAL FEATURES

    - Archive commentary by producer David Rapsey and director of photography John Brawley

    - New audio commentary by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Emma Westwood

    - Captured Spirits: An interview with director of photography John Brawley

    - Ghost in the Machine: An interview with producer David Rapsey

    - A Cop and a Friend: An interview with actors Carole Patullo and James Lawson

    - Kindred Spirits: Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead on Lake Mungo

     - Hosting Spirits: Rob Savage on Lake Mungo

     - Simulcra and Spirits: A video essay by film writer Josh Nelson

    - Autopsy of a Family Home:  A video essay by filmmaker Joseph Wallace

    - Deleted scenes

LIMITED EDITION:

    - Rigid slipcase

    - Booklet with behind the scenes photos, new essays by Sarah Appleton, Simon Fitzjohn, Rich Johnson, Mary Beth McAndrews, and Shellie McMurdo, and an interview with actor James Lawson by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas.

RAW - LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY review

Newly released on blu-ray this week is Julia Ducournau's French cannibalistic horror Raw. As young student Justine (Garance Marillier) attends her first week of veterinary school, she encounters a series of cruel initiations enacted by the older students - including her older sister, Alexia (Ella Rumpf) - from having their dormitories raided and mattresses tossed out of the windows to being doused in blood for their class photo and forced to eat raw meat in the form of a piece of rabbit kidney. A lifelong vegetarian, this first taste of flesh opens up an unexpected hunger in Justine she hasn't felt before, nor does she know how to control.

If you missed Raw's original cinematic run or are just eager for a second bite, now is the time to invest in one of the most original, shocking and memorable horror debuts of the last decade. A sublime mix of gruesome body horror and a dry commentary on a whole host of topics, from female sexuality, vegetarianism and complicated family dynamics, Julia Ducournau's film stars Garance Marillier as the unassuming veterinary student Justine, away from home for the first time to study at the same institution her sister attends and where her parents first met. Along with her gay roommate Adrien (Rabah Nait Oufella) she must contend with the cruel, demeaning initiations that come with 'rush week', made all the worse that one of the main instigators is the one person she thought would be looking out for her, her older sister Alexia.

It's this unstable bond between Justine and Alexia, as well as Justine's reckoning with her newfound desire for meat, that drives the film's story. Given the easy parallel with the teen werewolf classic Ginger Snaps, it might surprise you that Raw steers clear of the monster movie leanings of lycanthropes and vampires, instead delivering a story of hunger that - although hopefully unlikely - could be set in our world. As she and her fellow newbies are treated like lower class citizens by the year above (if they dare to make eye contact with them, they could be punished into wearing a diaper to class), it's an endless week of cattle dissections and all-night partying at the local morgue, but still disconcertingly recognisable to anyone who's been through a university freshers week.

There are many outstanding moments in Raw that have an incredible ability to shock the audience, even on a re-watch. For example, a brutal bikini waxing scene starts off uncomfortably enough, but then delivers a graphic slice of nerve-tightening horror before capping it off with one of the most jaw-dropping moments in modern horror cinema. Even seeing it a second time, I felt my stomach begin to churn. It's gross, it's hilarious, it's brilliantly directed with a fantastically gothic music sting... it truly needs to be seen to be believed. As the attempted bikini wax scene will prove, Raw is at its strongest when it leans into the horrors of being a young woman. Justine is guided into a more sexualised version of herself by her sister Alexia, who wants to show her a way to survive by giving her dresses, plucking her eyebrows, telling her to shave her armpits and (regretfully) offering to give her her first waxing. Justine's insatiable appetite for meat is closely tied to her sexuality, and as she stares at the back of roommate Adrien's neck, you're not sure whether she wants to devour him, sleep with him, or both. 

The latest of Second Sight's special edition releases to come in a display worthy boxset (or 'rigid slipcase', if you prefer) following hot on the heels of the incredible Dawn of the Dead boxset and the new editions of World on a Wire and Revenge, it's a great package that gives the film the attention it deserves with plenty to sink your teeth into. Some of the special features feature the work of horror scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, who's contributed a video essay dissecting some of the themes of the film and features in an interview segment with director Julia Ducournau, and there's also new essays from Emma Westwood (who also has a commentary alongside Ducournau) and Little White Lies' Hannah Woodhead.

Shocking but with a pitch black sense of humour, Julia Ducournau's Raw is an easy film to whole-spleengutsandheartedly recommend to those with a strong constitution. The three core cast members (Marillier, Rumpf and Oufella) deliver great performances, with Marillier in particular standing out as one to watch out for in the future. Its gorier moments won't be for everyone, but if you have a refined cinematic palate and can appreciate how truly great horror cinema can push boundaries, Raw is a film you should feast your eyes on.

Verdict

5/5

SPECIAL FEATURES

- The Girl Can't Help It: a new interview with Actor Garance Marillier

- Making Ends Meat: a new interview with Producer Jean des Forets

- New audio commentary by film critic Alexandra West

- Audio Commentary with Julia Ducournau and film critic Emma Westwood

- In the Name of Raw: an interview with Director Julia Ducournau

- A Family Affair: a new video essay by film critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

- Raw À Votre Goût featurette with Julia Ducournau & film critic Emma Westwood 

- Quick Bites with Julia Ducournau & film critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas 

- Genre Matters Panel Discussion

- Australian Premiere Introduction

- Australian Premiere Q&A with Julia Ducournau and Kier-La Janisse

- Alternative opening, deleted scenes, trailers

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

- Rigid slipcase 

- Perfect-bound booklet with new essays by Hannah Woodhead and Emma Westwood plus interview with Julia Ducournau by Lou Thomas

- 3 collectors' art cards

DAWN OF THE DEAD - LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY review

Ten years after the release of George A. Romero's seminal zombie classic Night of the Living Dead, he decided to cement his reputation as the king of the zombie genre with Dawn of the Dead. Building on the racial and social allegories of the first film, Dawn added rampant consumerism to the mix, setting itself largely in the confines of a deserted shopping mall with an unconventional family unit of survivors who take on the undead as well as a violent biker gang.

For many horror fans, Dawn is the true gem in Romero's zombie filmography, expanding the universe and lore of the genre massively after the more subtle aspects of his black and white original. Here, the gore, the effects and the violence is ramped up hugely, in no small part thanks to the efforts of Romero's fellow Pittsburghian, special make-up effects legend Tom Savini (also on board as a stunt man, plus one of the lead biker invaders). Sure, the zombies all have a strange grey complexion that's unique to this film and the blood is an almost eye-scorching red giving the film a colour palette like no other, but the sheer ingenuity and complete disregard for health and safety employed in the zombie kills is the stuff of legend.  Take for example, Savini blowing the head off a zombie mannequin with a shotgun to get the explosive desired effect, all plain to see here (depending on what version of the film you watch).

I could bang on about how great and truly essential a film Dawn of the Dead is for any lover of horror, but to be honest, if you've gone looking for a review of this boxset, chances are you've already seen the film countless times and just want to see if it's worth upgrading from whatever version you have and investing in this new edition. Well, to cut a long story short, yes it is. It really is, and here's why.

The boxset, available in blu-ray and 4K UHD formats, houses 4 blu-rays and 3 audio discs and is packed full of things to sink your teeth into. There's three different cuts of the film (the theatrical cut, the Cannes cut and executive producer Dario Argento's slightly different European cut), the soundtrack by Goblin and two additional music discs, and a 160 page hardback book and a novelisation too, collecting various essays about the film. For me though, the meatiest morsel of the collection is disc 4, with a ton of NEW special features and films that cover the making of the film from all angles. You want a new hour long documentary that speaks to the actors (more accurately, Pittsburgh students and friends of Tom Savini) from most of the memorable zombie kills, plus another short documentary where Savini tells us how he did the effects behind those kills? You got it. Also included on this disc is Roy Frumkes' beloved Document of the Dead film, now with an extended cut that adds half an hour of content.

UK fans of this film have long been forced to traverse the minefield of importing foreign boxsets and owning a multi-region player, and that was just for DVDs (Anchor Bay put out a superb boxset over a decade ago, but this improves upon even that). Now on blu-ray and 4K UHD, with love, care and attention to detail, Second Sight have compiled what is undoubtedly the definitive compendium of Dawn of the Dead, all inside what must be one of the greatest looking boxset of all time with the original artwork put to great use. This is a collection that will inspire serious shelf envy.

At a time when the world seems a bit apocalyptic-esque and life in lockdown isn't too dissimilar to what this film's main characters are going through, let's either take comfort that we don't quite have it as bad as these guys do and/or sit and take notes in case survival skills become necessary. Enough to set the pulse racing of any true Romero fan, for a film that's recently passed its 40th anniversary, Dawn of the Dead has never looked as good as this.

Available to buy now from all good retailers, but buying directly from Second Sight will bag you some additional art cards.

Verdict

5/5

Special Features

- Zombies and Bikers - new documentary packed with interviews with the undead cast

- Memories of Monroeville - a fun tour of the Monroeville Mall how it is today

- Raising the Dead - The production logistics

- The FX of Dawn with Tom Savini

- Dummies! Dummies! - A New interview with the eye-patch wearing scientist on TV.

- The Lost Romero Dawn Interview - a newly discovered archive interview

- Super 8 Mall Footage - Behind the scenes footage by documentarian Ralph Langer

- Document of the Dead - Roy Frumkes' classic making of documentary, with optional extended cut

- The Dead Will Walk - Romero profile from 2004

- Trailers, TV & Radio Spots

- Commentaries on all versions of the film

FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR BLU-RAY review

A 1980s classic given the special edition blu-ray treatment it deserves, out now is Flight of the Navigator.

Flight of the Navigator will hold a special place in the heart of many children of the '80s, and although there's often a fear that revisiting these older films will lead to crushing disappointment, as soon as this film's opening UFO fake out is revealed to be a dog frisbee catching competition and Alan Silvestri's jumpy electronic score kicks in, you know you're in for fun. 12 year old David (Joey Cramer) has the usual things to worry about like how to talk to girls, taking his dog Bruiser for a walk in the woods and his bratty younger brother being a constant annoyance. All this changes when, after falling in the woods, he returns home to find his parents no longer live there and that he's been missing for the last 8 years, his whereabouts a complete mystery. More peculiarly, he hasn't aged a day in that time, his little brother is now a foot taller than him and his parents thought he was dead. Oh, and NASA are very interested in the star maps that now appear to be in David's brain, and what they might have to do with the giant spaceship they've found.

It's one of the all time great kid's horror "what would you do?" scenarios that's only the first act of this film. A Disney co-production released by Buena Vista but deemed too dark a set-up to bear the Walt Disney logo, in their hands Flight of the Navigator could have been a sanitised family comedy called something like My Big Little Brother, but instead it's closer in tone to an Amblin movie, full of childhood trauma, shady government officials and conspiracies. And let's be honest, the title is awesome.

About that aforementioned flight, this is very much a film of two distinct halves, firstly with David encountering this brave new world of 80s things like MTV, a robot named RALF and Sarah Jessica Parker, before his psychic bond with a super cool looking silver spaceship leads to the second half of the film, which literally soars when it kicks into gear. With effects that still look great, the mixture of practical and photographic morphing effects really make the ship come to life. Watching this now, it's surprising how clearly divided down the middle this film is, as fond memories place the scenes of David flying around in the spaceship talking to Max (the onboard computer that sounds suspiciously like Pee Wee Herman after downloading the star maps from David's brain) as the bulk of the film. That's not to say the first half is forgettable and doesn't set up an enjoyable mystery scenario, but as the title suggests, it's the Flight of the Navigator that we want to see. Boy, is it fun.

It's a film ready to be enjoyed by audiences young and old, and this new blu-ray edition from Second Sight (in a beautiful looking slipcase) has been given a plethora of extras that will answer your questions like, "how did they make the spaceship look so cool? and "I wonder what the kid in it looks like now?". Don't wait for the often threatened remake, invest in the original and go for a wild ride.

Verdict
4/5

Special Features-

- New 4K scan with restoration supervised by Randal Kleiser
- Directing the Navigator - Interview with Randal Kleiser
- Playing the Navigator - Interview with Joey Cramer
- Mother of the Navigator - Interview with Veronica Cartwright
- Brother of the Navigator - Interview with Matt Adler
- Art of the Navigator featurette
- Commentary by Randal Kleiser and producer Jonathan Sanger
- Reversible sleeve with new and original artwork

Limited Edition also features-

-Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Rich Davies
- 100 page book with original storyboards, behind the scenes photos and a new essay by Kevin Lyons
- Reversible poster with new and original artwork