The Ape (Blu-ray) by Stuart Galbraith IV A Poverty Row horror film starring Boris Karloff, The Ape (1940) is cheap but amusing in its ridiculousness. The outrageous premise was a feature not uncommon with these low-budget offerings from Monogram (which produced this) and Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC), though Karloff delivers a surprisingly sincere performance, not always the case when the actor held the material in contempt. (In 1944's The Climax, for instance, it's obvious Karloff loathes the script, and his performance is glaringly uncaring in that sleep-inducing thriller.) Long in the public domain, Kino's excellent Blu-ray sources pristine British film elements; rare has such a cheap, crummy movie looked this good. The basic plot is a variation of a type Karloff and others had been chu ing out for several years. After its classics-filled "first-cycle" of 1931-1936, horror movies briefly fell into sharp dec...Read the entire review »

The Hard Way (1991) (Blu-ray) by Justin Remer The Movie: NOTE: The images accompanying this review are taken from online sources and do not represent the quality of the Blu-ray under review. I would have been just turning 11 when The Hard Way hit VHS in the fall of 1991. As a young fan of buddy cop comedies and Hollywood movies in general, I remember I felt like The Hard Way was specifically tailored for me. James Woods is a hard-edged police lieutenant not too far afield from his character in 1988's Cop. Michael J. Fox is a pampered Hollywood actor who wants to study Woods for a role. Tough New York meets flaky L.A. What a perfect odd couple!Watching The Hard Way on Kino Lorber's new B...Read the entire review »