King of the Mountain (Blu-ray) by Jesse Skeen From 1981, this is a typical "carsploitation" movie of the era selling itself on its racing scenes but actually focusing more on a sub-plot involving the music industry. The main character is Steve (Harry Hamlin), who works in an auto repair shop with a colorful group of characters including Rick (Grizzly Adams himself, Dan Haggerty) and Cal (Dennis Hopper, who was reportedly not sober during filming), a former racing legend who is now just burnt-out smoking and drinking while watching the races from the sidelines. The main racing "scene" is the twisted roads along Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles, which I've casually driven along a bit myself. Practical drivers go slow along there, but these guys go as fast as possible narrowly avoiding crashes and falling off the side of the road- the title "King of the Mountain" is given to whoever can do this the fastest and longest and Steve aspires for that tit...Read the entire review »

Trick or Treats (Blu-ray) by Adam Tyner Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: returning home on Halloween night, a knife-wielding, escaped mental patient mercilessly stalks a babysitter.[click on the thumbnail to enlarge]If you’re bracing yourself for a straightahead rip-off of Halloween, relax. Un-brace yourself. De-brace? There’s gotta be a word for that. I’m guessing there’s also a term for whatever it is that Trick or Treats is, exactly. Storming into theaters during the golden age of slasher cinema, maybe it’s supposed to satirize or deconstruct teen body count