PULSE: Straight from the Video Shelf to Your Home

PULSE (Blu-ray)

1988 / 92 min

Alliance Entertainment

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

There’s kind of a sad story behind this one. Upon completion, 1988's Pulse was slated for a wide theatrical release. But after a changing of the guard at Columbia Pictures, it was dumped into a couple of theaters before going straight to video. Kind of a shame, really. This largely forgotten film was nothing groundbreaking, but certainly deserved a more dignified fate than fighting for shelf space with low budget Friday the 13th rip-offs.

If nothing else, the movie boasts a pretty cool antagonist…some kind of entity or creature made of pure electricity that infiltrates peoples homes and tries to kill them. It’s nicely rendered, too. Perhaps taking a cue from The Thing, it appears as pulsating pieces of goo that collectively take over the home’s electronics, outlets and wiring. But best of all, writer-director Paul Golding doesn’t feel compelled to provide any explanation. It’s enough that the house suddenly has it in for its occupants.

Shoulda paid your cable bill, Bill.

Those occupants are the Rockland family, Bill (Cliff De Young), his wife Ellen (Roxanne Hart), and son from a previous marriage, David (Joey Lawrence), who’s visiting from Colorado. However, he’d rather be back home, partially because Dad’s too busy to spend time with him, but mostly because he’s afraid that the same unseen presence that recently killed a neighbor has found its way into their house. He’s right, of course, otherwise no movie. Dad, however, needs more convincing. But don’t all horror movie dads?

The only exposition regarding the presence is provided by Old Man Holger (Charles Tyner), but all he actually tells David is how it moves from house to house through power lines. And really, that's all David (and the audience) needs to know. This sets up some pretty neat sequences with the family being terrorized and attacked by the stuff in their house, rendered through interesting special effects. None of this is particularly scary, but there’s some genuine suspense here and there.

Featuring a cast of faces you know but whose names you probably don’t (save for little Joey, who’d later become a teen idol that some of you may have had on your bedroom wall), Pulse is a quaint but entertaining little curio from the horror section of the ‘80s mom & pop video stores we used to haunt.

This is a re-issue of a Blu-ray first released by Mill Creek Entertainment in 2017.

Forgotten SUSPECT

SUSPECT (Blu-ray)

1987 / 121 min

Alliance Entertainment

Review by Princess Pepper😼

To be honest, I almost forgot Cher even did movies. A lot of ‘em, actually. In fact, she had quite a streak of really good ones back in the ‘80s, around the same time as one of her many musical comebacks. Yep…that was a pretty good decade for the ol’ girl. I guess I just forgot because she hasn’t since appeared in much that held any interest for me.

Wedged among all those memorable ones is Suspect, a courtroom thriller where she plays public defender Kathleen Riley, tasked with handling the case of deaf & mute derelict Carl Anderson (Liam Neeson), who’s been charged with the brutal murder of a young law clerk. Though all the evidence points to his guilt, she does her best to defend him, including trying to get a continuance in order to find a missing witness. However, Judge Helms (John Mahoney) doesn’t grant one.

Meanwhile, juror Eddie Sanger (Dennis Quaid) is convinced Carl is innocent and does some investigating on his own. Though lawyers and jurors are forbidden to interact during a trial, he continuously reaches out to Kathleen with clues he’s discovered. She’s reluctant at first, but when the evidence connects the girl’s murder to some politically power people, the two begin working together (and, of course, getting smoochy).

"If I could turn back time...I'd kick your ass."

As legal thrillers go, Suspect isn’t bad, though it’s hardly Anatomy of a Murder. In addition to some serious implausibilities, we have to endure a superfluous sideplot involving Sanger’s job as a politician. One could take out all those scenes - trimming the already lengthy running time - and the story wouldn’t be the worse for wear. And speaking of story, the big reveal at the conclusion pretty much comes out of the blue, with absolutely no foreshadowing. Without going into specifics, it ends up being kind of a suckerpunch.

Still, the primary story has its share of interesting moments, and overall, the performances are decent. Nobody involved knocks it out of the park or anything, though Cher makes her character engaging enough for us to care about the outcome (Quaid does his best with Sanger, who’s kind of an irritant). Certainly no lost classic, Suspect is one of the Cher movies I’d wager most people forgot existed.

This is a re-issue of a Blu-ray first released by Mill Creek Entertainment in 2017.

THE POOP SCOOP: Comets & Critters Edition

UPCOMING KIBBLES THAT MAKE US PURR!

ZOOTOPIA 2 on digital Now and 4K, Blu-ray & DVD March 3 from Disney. In Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Zootopia 2, rookie cops Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman) find themselves on the twisting trail of a great mystery when Gary De’Snake (voiced by Academy Award winner Ke Huy Quan) arrives in Zootopia and turns the animal metropolis upside down. To crack the case, Judy and Nick must go undercover to unexpected new parts of town, where their growing partnership is tested like never before. Both the digital and physical releases include several featurettes and deleted scenes.

The Late Diane Keaton's Directorial Debut, HEAVEN, Digitally Restored in HD, Arrives in Limited Edition Blu-ray, VOD & Digital on 2/17 from Lightyear. Though Diane Keaton appeared in over 60 movies and produced nearly a dozen, for her debut as a feature film director, the iconic actress, long preoccupied with the afterlife, chose to investigate what people really think about the great beyond. HEAVEN, the result of her inquiry, is a free-wheeling and off-beat pastiche of interviews, clips from films such as Metropolis, Green Pastures and Stairway to Heaven and songs that explore different ideas of what paradise may have to offer.

Disaster Movies Rule! GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION on Premium Digital Now from Lionsgate. In the aftermath of a comet strike that devastates most of the Earth, GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION follows devoted family man John Garrity (Gerard Butler) and his wife and son (Morena Baccarin, Roman Griffin Davis) after they’re forced to leave the safety of their bunker in Greenland to search for a new home in a shattered world. John leads the family on a dangerous journey, guided by his burning hope in a rumored safe haven. It’s a journey against the odds that will test the family’s deepest sense of love, sacrifice, and instinct to survive.

The New ANACONDA on 4K and Blu-ray March 17 from Sony. Doug (Jack Black) and Griff (Paul Rudd) have been best friends since they were kids, and have always dreamed of remaking their all-time favorite movie: the cinematic "classic" Anaconda. When a midlife crisis pushes them to finally go for it, they head deep into the Amazon to start filming. But things get real when an actual giant anaconda appears, turning their comically chaotic movie set into a deadly situation. The movie they're dying to make? It might just get them killed.

The Original WESTWORLD on 4K February 24 from Arrow Video. The Limited Edition release features a brand new 4K restoration from the original negative by Arrow Films, hours of special features, and newly commissioned extras. There is also a Blu-ray release.

EXCALIBUR on 4K February 24 from Arrow Video. The Limited Edition release features a brand new 4K restoration from the original 35mm negative by Arrow Films presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 for the first time on home video,and hours of special features, and newly commissioned extras. There is also a Blu-ray release.

Dave’s a little pissed…POINT BLANK Coming to 4K and Blu-ray April 21 from Criterion Collection. Free Kittens’ CEO bought himself an older Blu-ray copy of this action classic, then literally the next day, Criterion announces this release! In addition to a 4K restoration, this disc comes with a bunch of bonus features.

MONTY PYTHON’S LIFE OF BRIAN on 4K and Blu-ray April 14 from Criterion Collection. The anarchic irreverence of British comedy legends Monty Python is at its most inspired in this brilliant send-up of the blockbuster biblical epic. Featuring ribald Roman puns, sharp political commentary, and an audacious crucifixion-themed musical number, the Pythons’ most ambitious film is a hilarious satire of dogma and blind faith in which nothing is sacred.

BEN-HUR Coming to 4K on February 17 from Warner Bros. The winner of 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor, Ben-Hur stands as one of the greatest Hollywood epics ever filmed. Includes new and vintage bonus features.

THE RUNNING MAN on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on March 3 from Paramount. From the novel by Stephen King and directed by Edgar Wright, The Running Man is a fun, unhinged deadly game show where contestants must survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins. 

The Late, Great Udo Kier in MY NEIGHBOR ADOLF on Blu-ray February 10 from Cohen Media Group. When a mysterious old German man (played by Udo Kier) moves in next-door, Polsky suspects that his new neighbor is... Adolf Hitler. 

PREDATOR: BADLANDS on Digital Now and Blu-ray, 4K and DVD February 17 from 20th Century Studios. Director Dan Trachtenberg steers the Predator franchise into bold new territory, with audiences enthusiastically embracing his vision. 

ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN on 4K February 16 from Warner Bros. Academy Award winners Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman star in this true story as Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, whose investigation leads to the downfall of President Richard Nixon. In addition to a 4K restoration of the film, this release includes new and vintage bonus features.

It’s about damn time! Martin Scorsese’s KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON on Blu-ray, 4K and DVD March 24, 2026 from Criterion Collection. An epic elegy of greed, betrayal, and murder, Scorsese brings a dark chapter of American history to the screen with gripping narrative power and a profound feeling for the weight of systemic injustice.

The Sobering Nuclear War Classic, TESTAMENT, on Blu-ray March 17 from Criterion Collection Taking a hauntingly intimate approach to an often sensationalized subject, the singular Testament depicts one family’s daily life in the wake of nuclear devastation. 

NETWORK on 4K and Blu-ray February 24 from Criterion Collection. This media satire, directed by Sidney Lumet from a brilliantly incisive script by Paddy Chayefsky, is a no-holds-barred New Hollywood classic remains as fearlessly funny as it is unnervingly relevant.

VAMPIRE ZOMBIES…FROM SPACE!: More Homage Than Parody

VAMPIRE ZOMBIES…FROM SPACE! (Blu-ray)

2024 / 98 min

Cleopatra Entertainment

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Don’t be fooled by the deliberately silly title, which suggests yet-another “outrageous” zom-com thrown together by would-be auteurs operating under the conceit that being intentionally stupid qualifies as parody. Great parody has always been more than just making fun of stuff. It also displays genuine affection for the genre, which Vampire Zombies…from Space! does, sometimes quite brilliantly.

The title is indeed accurate, with a basic story that features Dracula (Greg Closter), who hails from a planet of vampires, returning to Earth in 1957 to take over the small town of Marlow by turning everyone into a legion of undead. Of course, the plot is just a vessel for the film’s collection of oddball characters, some truly funny dialogue and, of course, plenty of gory ‘splatstick’ action.

But really, this is more of a clever homage to horror-sci-fi films of the 1950s than pure parody, especially regarding the overall aesthetic. It’s shot in black & white, with deliberately hokey special effects. Yet at the same time, these effects are extremely well done, as is the production design. If it weren’t for the pristine image quality (probably because it was shot digitally), this could pass for a relic from the decade when the story takes place.

"Come-oooon Yahtzee!"

Though teen couple Wayne and Mary emerge as the main protagonists, the movie is stolen by Andrew Bee as police chief Ed Clarke, who’s hilarious without ever looking like he’s trying to be. Elsewhere, Closter makes an amusing Dracula, and look quick for none other than Night of the Living Dead’s Judith O’Dea as a Vampira-like alien.

Unlike similar films that quickly run out of gas and wear out their welcome, the cast, dialogue and special effects keep this one fun throughout its running time. And once the invaders’ inevitable weakness is discovered, the climax is similar to that in Mars Attacks!, only funnier. Vampire Zombies…from Space! is an entertaining (and great looking) horror comedy that’s worth seeking out. Despite the limited budget, there’s a lot of creativity up there on the screen, as well as an obvious love for the old movies it pays homage to. I think Ed Wood would be proud.

EXTRA KIBBLES

AUDIO COMMENTARY

PROMOTIONAL CLIPS

DELETED SCENES

TRAILERS

Not a KEEPER (4K)

KEEPER (4K UHD)

2025 / 99 min

Neon/Decal Releasing

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

As horror directors go, Osgood Perkins has been worth paying attention to, even if he doesn’t always hit it out of the park. I’ve also noticed a couple of common threads among his films. One, he generally favors slow-burning, atmospheric horror (his adaptation of Stephen King’s The Monkey being an amusing exception). And two, his best ones tend to have screenplays he had a hand in writing.

He didn’t write Keeper, and while it’s plenty stylish and full of creepy, surreal imagery, I can’t help but wonder if Perkins felt much ownership with this one…at least in terms of the story. 

To celebrate a year together, Malcolm (Rossi Sutherland) and Liz (Tatiana Maslany) go to his remote cabin for the weekend. Well, not completely remote…Malcom’s obnoxious cousin, Darren (Kett Turton), lives next door. More ominously, some kind of malevolent presence dwells in the forest, and eventually the cabin, with a particular interest in Liz. Concurrently, Liz begins experiencing dreams and/or hallucinations, but what they actually mean - as well as the nature of the spirit? demon? monster? - is revealed gradually…maybe too gradually. 

"Damn auto-correct."

The film does a good job setting up its premise, wisely choosing to hook the audience with intriguing ambiguity rather than spoonfeed them with exposition and cheap jump scares. But despite some effective visual moments, the overly deliberate pace and repetitiveness eventually work against it. As Liz experiences one weird thing after another, there reaches a point where we wish the narrative would just get on with it. When it finally does, the revelations are kind of underwhelming.

A strong protagonist helps a bit. Liz is likable, sympathetic and well played by Maslany. Conversely, however, both Malcolm and Darren are clumsily conceived. Without giving too much away, how they ultimately figure into the climax is hampered by heavy-handed foreshadowing. One of them actually disappears from the story altogether with no real explanation. And personally speaking, I found Sutherland’s performance kind of irritating.

I dunno…after Perkins’ one-two punch of Longlegs and The Monkey, maybe my expectations were too high, but I found this one disappointing. Technically well made, Keeper’s trippy aesthetic keeps things interesting for awhile, but it's eventually undone by a slow pace and a story that runs out of gas too soon.

EXTRA KIBBLES

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By director Osgood Perkins

TRAILER & TEASER

FACKHAM HALL: British Buffoonery

FACKHAM HALL (Blu-ray)

2025 / 97 min

Decal Releasing

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😼

God knows such stuffy British dramas as Downton Abbey and Merchant-Ivory’s entire catalogue could use a good ribbing, which the director and team of writers (including comedian Jimmy Carr) attempt to do with Fackham Hall. 

By their very nature, parody films are a challenge to pull off successfully. For every stone cold classic like Airplane!, there are a slew of celluloid suppositories that operate on the conceit that simply shoving pop culture references and bodily functions down the viewer’s throat qualifies as satire. Speaking of the latter, are they still letting Friedberg & Seltzer make movies?

Fackham Hall lies somewhere in the middle. Though never quite as clever as Zucker, Abrahams & Zucker’s best films, it’s generally pretty funny, even though it sort of runs out of gas before the credits roll. While certainly unfolding like the period pieces it satirizes, the plot is perfunctory, a clothesline on which to hang a rapid-fire whirlwind of gags, both visual and dialogue-driven. 

The titular estate is home to the Davenports, an aristocratic family headed by their patriarch, Humphrey (Damian Lewis). With no surviving sons left (they all died in previous accidents), he arranges for daughter Poppy (Emma Laird) to marry her cousin, Archibald (Tom Felton), in order to keep the house in the family. But when she leaves Archibald at the alter, Humphrey and wife Prudence (Katherine Waterston) insist their other daughter, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), marry him instead. However, she’s smitten with streetwise orphan pickpocket Eric (Ben Radcliffe), much to the consternation of everyone in the house (including the help).

Liberal amounts of AXE makes men irresistible.

But what am I saying? No one watching is really gonna care about the plot, even after Humphrey’s murdered and Eric’s the primary suspect. The movie’s so busy stampeding from one gag to the next that the story almost seems intrusive. Still, a lot of it works. While not above throwing in scatalogical humor and a ton of incest jokes, the dialogue is frequently funny, if not always particularly clever. Sometimes I laughed out loud, sometimes I chuckled, and occasionally, I checked to see how much more I had to sit through. But by and large, the movie’s batting average is pretty good.

Another reason Fackham Hall works as well as it does is the casting of actors not typically associated with comedy. Most look like they’d be right at home in a genuine British drama, and for the most part, everyone plays it straight. Even during the more slapsticky moments, there are no heavy-handed reminders that these characters are in on the joke.

Though probably not destined to be a comedy classic, Fackham Hall is mostly pretty amusing and one doesn’t necessarily need to be well versed in period dramas to enjoy it. It looks and sounds like one, but a good portion of the gags have little or nothing to do the genre it parodies. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

15 DELETED SCENES - Some are very funny, but you can see why most were cut.

ROOFMAN (4K): There's More Than Toys in the Attic

ROOFMAN (4K UHD)

2025 / 125 min

Paramount

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Burgler😺

Roofman is another one of those movies that, if unaware it was a true story, you probably wouldn’t believe a minute of it. Of course, one could still question how accurately it depicts the people and events, but what’s the fun in that? Since I knew nothing about robber/fugitive/toy store squatter Jeffrey Manchester beforehand, I found it pretty fascinating, though not the movie I was expecting.

Channing Tatum plays Jeffrey, a former soldier who struggles to hold a job after being discharged. He’s congenial and brilliant, but despite his best intentions, is also pretty irresponsible and clueless when it comes family obligations. Then he hatches a meticulous plan to start robbing local McDonald’s restaurants, always going in through the roof at night and waiting until the manager arrives the next morning. After committing over 40 robberies, he’s finally caught and sent to prison.

He later escapes and ends up hiding out in a Toys ‘R’ Us store…where he lives for months. Hiding during the day and coming out at night, these scenes amusingly show Jeffrey using what’s available to live more comfortably, which includes disabling security cameras and setting up his own surveillance system with baby monitors. He also begins to take a vested interest in some of the employees, especially single mom Leigh Wainscott (Kirsten Dunst), with whom he develops a relationship once he’s bold enough to start leaving the store.

Ultra-decaf.

Though frequently funny, especially the first half, Roofman isn’t quite the straight comedy I was expecting. Jeffrey’s exploits - both his criminal activities and life in the store - are pretty amusing. At the same time, there’s a melancholy undertone throughout the narrative. Jeffrey’s extraordinarily likable and friendly, but we suspect things won’t end well for him. More tellingly, Jeffrey himself seems increasingly aware that none of what he’s doing is sustainable…not so much through his narration, but Tatum’s affecting performance (it might be one of his best).

Similarly, the romance between Jeffrey and Leigh is charming, but what I mostly felt was sympathy for the latter at being so thoroughly duped (no matter how good Jeffrey’s intentions are). Personally speaking, what made me saddest was being constantly reminded that there aren't any more Toys 'R' Us stores. Still, as stranger-than-fiction stories go, this is a little overlong but mostly entertaining, with solid performances by a cast that includes LaKeith Stanfield, Peter Dinklage and Ben Mendelsohn in prominent supporting roles. Just don't go expecting a laugh riot.

EXTRA KIBBLES

4K, BLU-RAY & DIGITAL COPIES

FEATURETTES - Based on Actual Events and Terrible Decisions is a look at the true story that inspired the film, as well as cast & director interviews; Chasing the Ghosts: The Director’s Method showcases director Derek Cianfrance; A Good Place to Hide is about the effort to recreate a new Toys ‘R’ Us store in an abandoned building where one used to be (this is the most entertaining of the bonus features); Driving Lesson is about the used car test drive sequence; Choir Practice looks at rehearsals of the church choir sequences.

DELETED/ALTERNATE SCENES