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VHS MOVIE REVIEW : DARK DAY EXPRESS
From trashy-filipino-war-movies.blogspot.com
Gee, thanks, Jesus Manuel! Now I'm gonna have to spend the rest of the evening on this blog instead of going to the disco. LMAO.
Well, if you read JM's comments to my previous post you'll know he suggested that DARK DAY EXPRESS may very well be a Thai film (or part of it) entitled MISSION HUNTER 2 and he provided a link to a store called eThaiCD.com. That store by the way is highly recommended. They've got tons of cool stuff, their prices are low, and postage to anywhere in the world is free! In the past, I've bought quite a few films there which you can't get anywhere else.
For instance, Thailand was the first country to release SUMMERTIME KILLER on English friendly DVD way before the US DVD came out. The only less exciting thing you'll have to deal with with some of their releases is they're only on VCD! And since Thailand was never invaded by the British they've never had regulations that secured English subtitles like with films from Hong Kong. Gee, Britain, "thanks" for not invading Thailand. :-/
Hahaha.
Needless to say, I still don't have a copy of DARK DAY EXPRESS but I thought I might as well order the Thai VCD, not least because when other collectors (not least from KFC) find out about this they're gonna order the VCD which is soon gonna render it OOP and ultimately I'm gonna miss out on it. Well, *would have* if I hadn't ordered it right away. xD.
But, hey, of course it may not even be the same film!? O_O Maybe the HK company only used part of the cover for an unrelated film (or the Thai company did)? Who knows. But if that were the case it'd still mean I'd be getting yet another potentially cool trashy war flick. Yay.
Anyway, so I went to the Thai on-line web-store and discovered they had no less than FOUR VCD's with a film called MISSION HUNTER!! One was seemingly the first film and the remaining three were all alternative releases of the same MISSION HUNTER 2 film. Or so it seemed. But of course nothing's that simple in the world of trashy Vietnam war movies, is it. LOL.
I don't read Thai but some of the titles for MISSION HUNTER 2 don't look the same; If you read my reply to Jesus Manuel (in the last post) you'll see I discovered that one of the MISSION HUNTER 2 films has English subs. Well, actually I think the store fucked up that piece of info! Their subtitled VCD isn't MISSION HUNTER 2 but the first film, MISSION HUNTER. But then again... maybe MISSION HUNTER (the first one) is really the one they used for DARK DAY EXPERSS because the cover USES THE SAME IMAGES!! o_O
No, nothing comes easy in the world of psychotronic movies, does it. LOL. Anyhoo, like I said I've ordered the ones that weren't OOP (i.e. two of them) and whenever JM can get away from nappies and little newborn babies I'll try and bug him to ship a dvdr copy of the Spanish tape this way. :D
Here's the info for the four VCDs. If anybody can read Thai and can figure out what's what then I'd appreciate it heaps. Thanks.
VHS MOVIE REVIEW : WAXWORK
From slasherama.com
The lowdown: You have to love Eighties cinema if you were lucky enough to have grown up back then. Not only did you have the 3 G`s of goodness (Gremlins, Ghostbusters and The Goonies) to help your young noggin formulate what made a great film, you also had the golden age of prosthetic horror comedies to turn to when your tastes matured into liking something a little more gory! Fright Night, American Werewolf in London and Waxwork gave an entry for me as a sensitive young film fan to the world of horror and I, like many others, have a nostalgic love for these films. Luckily, Waxwork on DVD it still stands up as a horror film aimed purely at fans of the genre with a great premise, mad effects and no little humour.
Good points: Waxwork has a simple premise. A creepy collection of classic horror scenes recreated in wax come alive and carry on their murderous ways in the real world, thus giving fans of the genre enough in-jokes, gore, character actors and humour to make for a really enjoyable film. For his debut, genre favourite Hickox managed to attract a great cast and the mix of established thesps like Warner and Macnee have fun with their rather camp roles while the eye candy youths all do a good job of, um, well, looking good in an Eighties fashion kind of way! The action rolls along at a fast clip and the gore gags come thick and fast. It is always amusing, at times outright funny. The concept of visiting different genres and at times specific films gives Waxwork a welcome variety and it crams a lot of action into its 97 minute running time.
Bad points: It gets a bit silly at times. For instance, a subplot involving a takeover of the world from beyond the grave, and the climactic Casino Royale inspired monster-mash free-for-all, which personally I loved but may be a bit much for some!
DVD Details: The disk reviewed is the Region 1 Artisan DVD double bill featuring both Waxwork and its sequel Waxwork 2: Lost In Time. As this is available at budget price, it is perhaps understandable that the only extras are the two respective trailers. Of more concern is the fact these are fullsceen transfers. However, this did not detract from the film and for the price this is a great value package.
Overall: In essence this is way more of a comedy-horror than a horror-comedy. While all about classic horror characters and films, it is in no shape whatsoever scary! But as a comedy it works and that is a true rarity in this genre. Galligan makes an appealing lead and Foreman, also great in the under-appreciated April Fools Day, is her usual, slightly kooky self. Fans of this film will also enjoy director Hickox`s Sundown: The Vampire In Retreat, his rare alternative look at the vampire film with Bruce Campbell. Surprisingly gory, inventive and always good old fashioned FUN, this is well worth a space in your collection.
Release Date: Available now on Region 1 DVD. A Region 2 Columbia Tristar single film fullscreen verion is also available in England. A Region 4 Magna Pacific single film fullscreen verion is also available in Australia.
Reviewer: Jon Kelly
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