Horror flicks to frighten video viewers in 2004
A tense thriller (“Out of Time”), a frontier favorite (“Open Range”), an acclaimed drama (“Thirteen”), a pre-teen title (“Uptown Girls”), an awaited sequel (“Once Upon a Time in Mexico”), and four fright films (“Cabin Fever,” “Freddy vs. Jason,” “House of the Dead” and “Underworld”) will kick off 2004 for video viewers. The following capsule reviews, listed alphabetically, will give you an idea of the caliber of films coming soon to a video store near you. The films are graded as follows: Very Good, (A); Good, (B); Fair, (C); Poor, (D); Turkey (F). Those with (NP) have not been previewed.
AMERICAN WEDDING (Universal; $22.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; Jan. 2; C+): In this third installment of the “American Pie’ comedy series, the characters played by Jason Biggs and Alyson Hannigan prepare to walk down the aisle. Before the big day, however, the hard-drinking, slow-thinking Stifler (Seann William Scott) insists on throwing an unforgettable bachelor party.
An unrated version will also be available. (96 minutes) Quality rating courtesy of wire services. Strong sexual elements, gross gags, harsh four-letter profanity. (R)
BUFFALO SOLDIERS (Miramax; $99.99, tape; $29.99, DVD; Jan. 13; B): Delayed for many months from theatrical release due to the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001, this controversial work, set in 1989, offers an extremely biting look at bored American soldiers. Those military members participate in numerous illegal activities including buying drugs by selling weapons – while stationed in West Germany just prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The stinging satire, based on the novel by Robert O’Connor, stars Joaquin Phoenix (“Signs’), Ed Harris (“The Hours’), Scott Glenn (“The Silence of the Lambs’), Elizabeth McGovern (“Ragtime’) and Anna Paquin (“X2: X-Men United’). Australian filmmaker Gregor Jordan (“Two Hands’) directed. (95 minutes) Violence, drug use, harsh four-letter profanity, sexual elements. (R)
CABIN FEVER (Lions Gate; $49.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; Jan. 20; B): This rapid-paced, scare-filled tale is an old-school fright film that liberally borrows elements from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,’ “The Evil Dead’ and John Carpenter’s remake of “The Thing.’
The story involves five young adults who visit a cabin in the woods and catch a deadly virus, which causes all hell to break loose. Eli Roth made his directing debut with the relentless chiller. (100 minutes) Very strong violence, sex, nudity, harsh four-letter profanity. (R)
CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS (HBO; $29.99, DVD only; Jan. 27; B+): The family fallout that occurred after a father and son from the affluent Long Island suburb of Great Neck, N.Y. were accused of sexually abusing young boys in 1987 is chronicled in this documentary.
The critically acclaimed picture won the Documentary Grand Prize at last year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Andrew Jarecki, most famous for inventing the ticket-buying system MovieFone, made his directing debut. (107 minutes) Quality rating courtesy of wire services. Adult themes. (Unrated)
FREDDY VS. JASON (New Line; $22.99, tape; $29.99, DVD; Jan. 13; B-): Those titans of terror – razor-fingered Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) of the “A Nightmare on Elm Street’ series and machete-wielding Jason Voorhees (Ken Kirzinger) of the “Friday the 13th” series – finally go mano a mano. This long-planned fright film takes a Looney Tunes approach to the material, which will delight some fans and disappoint others. Sure blood and gore abounds, but Hong Kong director Ronny Yu (“The Bride with White Hair’) plays most of it for laughs as Freddy calls Jason back from the grave so that terrified teenagers will once again have bad dreams. (95 minutes) Very strong violence/gore, nudity, sex, harsh four-letter profanity, drug use, teen drinking and smoking. (R)
HOUSE OF THE DEAD (Artisan; $99.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; Jan. 27; NP): This fright film is designed as a prequel to the popular video-game series in which players blast zombies. The action begins when some college students begin partying on an island, literally wake up the dead and then run for their lives. (90 minutes) Pervasive strong violence/gore, harsh four-letter profanity, brief nudity. (R)
INTIMACY (Koch Lorber; $99.99, tape; $24.99, DVD; Jan. 6; B): Two unhappy British residents – a failed musician (Mark Rylance of “Angels & Insects’) and a struggling actress (Kerry Fox of “Shallow Grave’) – try to put some spark into their dead-end lives. They decide to meet every Wednesday for no-strings-attached sex during this adult drama, which involves love, desire, passion and obsession. During 35 minutes of its running time, the import features strong erotic images that generated controversy and publicity in Europe. Gary Oldman (“Bram Stokers’ Dracula’) and Tim Roth (“Planet of the Apes’) reportedly declined the lead role due to the film’s frank sexual nature. French filmmaker Patrice Chereau (“Queen Margot’) directed.
It will also be available in an edited R-rated version. (119 minutes) Extremely strong sexual elements, adult themes. (Unrated)
JOHNNY ENGLISH (Universal; $22.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; Jan. 13; C+): In this 007 spoof, British comic actor Rowan Atkinson (“Bean’) stars as a bumbling secret agent reluctantly called to duty by Her Majesty’s government after all of his fellow operatives are murdered under mysterious circumstances. John Malkovich (“In the Line of Fire’) plays a French businessman out to foil Atkinson’s secret agent by stealing the crown jewels. (88 minutes) Quality rating courtesy of wire services. Brief nudity, crude humor, profanity. (PG)
MARCI X (Paramount; $99.99, tape; $29.99, DVD; Jan. 20; NP): After a tightly wound record executive suffers a heart attack, his pampered, clueless daughter (Lisa Kudrow of TV’s “Friends’) takes over his job despite absolutely no experience in the music industry. She then works with an edgy rapper (Damon Wayans of “The Last Boy Scout’) who’s facing strong protests over his latest CD and rejects all requests to tone down his tough-as-nails image. (84 minutes) Harsh four-letter profanity, sexual elements. (R)
ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO (Columbia TriStar; $99.99, tape; $28.99, DVD; Jan. 20; B): This outrageously staged, intermittently inspired picture is the third installment in director Robert Rodriguez’s trilogy, which includes “El Mariachi’ (1992) and “Desperado’ (1995).
This time, the heavily armed, deeply mysterious Mariachi (again played by Antonio Banderas) becomes caught between a duplicitous CIA agent (scene-stealing Johnny Depp of “Pirates of the Caribbean’) and a cartel kingpin (Willem Dafoe of “Spider-Man’).
The high-energy 35-year-old director designed the picture as a frontier epic inspired by Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Westerns – “A Fistful of Dollars,’ “For A Few Dollars More’ and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ – featuring Clint Eastwood as the Man With No Name. Salma Hayek, last seen in “Desperado,’ briefly returns during the outlandish fable, which viewers will either love or hate. (101 minutes)
Strong violence, harsh four-letter profanity. (R)
OPEN RANGE (Touchstone; $99.99, tape; $29.99, DVD; Jan. 20; B): Two aging cowboys (Kevin Costner of “Field of Dreams’ and Robert Duvall of “Assassination Tango’) involved in a challenging cattle drive across open country are seemingly headed for the last roundup.
Costner, who also directed, provides some impressive images of the rugged landscape’s brutal elegance, and the story stresses values such as loyalty, trust and friendship.
Even the most forgiving viewers, however, may feel the actor/filmmaker allows the tale to mosey along for too long. Annette Bening (“American Beauty’) co-stars as a single woman who captures the interest of Costner’s grizzled character. (135 minutes) Violence, mild profanity. (R)
OUT OF TIME (MGM; $49.99, tape; $27.99, DVD; Jan. 6; B): Cold cash and ill-fated love collide in this rapid-paced thriller.
Denzel Washington stars as a Florida police chief who’s drawn to two women – one his estranged wife (Eva Mendes of “2 Fast 2 Furious’); the other his former sweetheart (Sanaa Lathan of “Brown Sugar’) – and pays a price for what might be a fatal attraction. Washington and director Carl Franklin previously teamed on the highly underrated “Devil in a Blue Dress,’ and the two artists bring out the best in each other. (105 minutes) Sexual content, violence, profanity. (PG-13)
THIRTEEN (Fox; $99.99, tape; $27.99, DVD; Jan. 27; A-): During this equally riveting and shocking contemporary tale, a seventh-grade student (Evan Rachel Wood of “The Missing”) experiments with oral sex, stealing, huffing spray cans, taking drugs, getting piercings and cutting herself. Debuting director Catherine Hardwicke, who wrote the script with the film’s co-star, 13-year-old Nikki Reed, pulls no punches. The edgy melodrama shows how girls still in middle school have become slaves to fashion and victims of unrealistic expectations based on physical attributes rather than emotional maturity.
Holly Hunter (“Crash’) delivers an outstanding performance as a struggling working-class single mother trying to make sense out of her daughter’s sudden extreme behavior.
Wood and Hunter earned Golden Globe nominations for their work in the categories of best actress and supporting actress, respectively. (100 minutes)
Strong sex, nudity, drug use, harsh four-letter profanity, adult themes. (R)
UNDERWORLD (Columbia TriStar; $99.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; Jan. 6; C+): The basic plot of “Romeo and Juliet’ was borrowed for this highly uneven horror film with romantic overtones.
The plot concerns a sexy leather-clad vampire (British actress Kate Beckinsale of “Pearl Harbor’) who falls in love with a handsome hard-bodied werewolf (London native Scott Speedman of “Dark Blue’).
The two belong to clans waging a bloody war.
The aristocratic vampires and thug-like werewolves have remained lethal enemies throughout the centuries. (120 minutes) Strong violence/gore, harsh four-letter profanity. (R)
UPTOWN GIRLS (MGM; $49.99, tape; $26.99, DVD; Jan. 6; B-): An upbeat twentysomething New Yorker (Brittany Murphy of “Just Married’) discovers that all of the money left by her late rock-star parents has disappeared, meaning she must work for the first time in her life.
She takes a job as a nanny to an old-before-her-time 8-year-old girl (Dakota Fanning of “Dr. Seuss’ the Cat in the Hat’) and teaches the emotionally withdrawn child to enjoy life.
Heather Locklear (TV’s “Spin City’) co-stars as the youngster’s distant mother in the sugary-sweet tale designed for pre-teen girls only. (93 minutes) Sexual content, language. (PG-13)