ICEFALL: Embrace the Bad Decisions

ICEFALL (Blu-ray)

2025 / 96 min

Decal Releasing

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😼

Let’s say you’re speeding across a frozen lake on a snowmobile, then suddenly stop because you notice there’s a guy placing a few beartraps in your direct path. You have two options…make a slight course correction, or throw caution to the wind and try to plow right through them. Which would you choose?

That’s what I thought. However, one of the bad guys in Icefall chooses the latter, with predictable results. He’s thrown off his snowmobile, and after a brief scuffle with the protagonist, ends up with his head in the jaws of one of those beartraps. It's a pretty gnarly way to die, to be sure, and the film’s best death scene…but jeez, how dumb can you get?

Not that Icefall depends entirely on the stupidity of its characters to move the plot along. Sometimes it depends on lapses in logic, like when a crew of elite killers steal millions in cash, then put it onboard a plane for safe keeping, a tracking device attached to one of the cases. The plane crashes in a remote lake, which then freezes over. Five months later, the case is pulled from the lake by widowed local poacher named Harlan (Joel Kinnaman), which alerts the bad guys to its location. My question is this: Shouldn’t that tracking device have shown them where the plane went down in the first place?

Ian and Cara attend a Packers game.

Still, I kind of enjoyed the film, most of which consists of these robbers, led by Drake (DeVaughn Nixon), chasing Harlan and Native American game warden Ani (Cara Jade Myers) across the ice and through the woods. Danny Huston, playing the crew’s mastermind, eventually shows up to add menace and shoot a few of his own people. Also featured is the late Graham Greene in one of his final roles. Too bad his character serves no real purpose other than berating Harlan. And despite cover art suggesting Harlan is a kick-ass man of action, he’s not indestructible and actually spends a lot of his time running away. In a way, that’s kind of refreshing.

Despite a bit of dull character exposition regarding Harlan’s past, the budget-conscious action scenes keep things moving along nicely. There’s gunplay, a few bloody brawls and - personally speaking - my introduction to the concept of methane bubbles...pockets of gas trapped in frozen lakes that are revealed to be extremely flammable (as one character discovers the hard way). Icefall ain’t the brainiest thing ever made, but by embracing its dumber aspects rather than condemning them, there’s some fun to be had here.

THE POOP SCOOP: Classic Kibbles Edition!

UPCOMING KIBBLES THAT MAKE US PURR!

The Original WESTWORLD on 4K February 24 from Arrow Video. Director and writer Michael Crichton (author of the bestselling novel Jurassic Park) thrilled and scared viewers with what technology can do at an immersive amusement park. 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. Director John Boorman (Deliverance) brings you the definitive cinematic telling of the life and enduring legend of King Arthur, not seen in previous family friendly movies about Camelot. 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! Director John Boorman brought the gangster drama into new realms of modernist abstraction with this stylized revenge thriller, which transforms hard-edged pulp into a kaleidoscopic psychological puzzle. Lee Marvin is iconically cool as the enigmatic Walker, who, after he’s betrayed and left for dead by his best friend during a robbery, embarks on a brutal quest for vengeance, aided by a jaded ex-moll (a sensational Angie Dickinson) who has her own complex motives for helping him. Capturing Los Angeles locales with a surreal pop-art eye, Boorman locates the existential dread lurking beneath the city’s sunlit surface. 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. In a stable in ancient Jerusalem, a child is born—a child who will grow up to be . . . Brian (Graham Chapman), an ordinary Judean who goes on to live an extraordinary life, becoming entangled in a plot to overthrow the Roman empire and being mistaken for the Messiah, among other unlikely events. 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. In addition to a 4K restoration, this disc comes with a bunch of bonus features.

BEN-HUR Coming to 4K on February 17 from Wanter 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 Choen 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. 

The Original 3:10 TO YUMA on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD February 3, 2026 from Criterion Collection. Based on a story by Elmore Leonard, 3:10 to Yuma is a thrilling, humane action movie, directed by the supremely talented studio filmmaker Delmer Daves with intense feeling and precision.

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.

FRIGHTMARE Gets Tromatized

FRIGHTMARE (Blu-ray)

1981 / 86 min

Troma Entertainment

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

1981’s Frightmare (onscreen title, The Horror Star) is a slasher film with a pretty cool premise, that of a legendary horror actor coming back from the dead to slaughter a batch young people. But while watchable and competently made on a low budget, there ain’t much in the way of panache.

Conrad Ragzoff (Ferdy Mayne) is a legendary (and arrogant) horror movie icon whose best days are behind him, resorting to appearing in a commercial. He’s also a murderer, having killed his director and agent for disrespecting him. Then after Conrad himself unexpectedly dies, a group of drama students steal his body and bring him to a big old house to party.

However, Conrad has a party planned of his own. He explodes from his coffin to commence offing these kids one by one. Sometimes the kills are creative and bloody, other times kind of unremarkable. Some of the cast is interesting, though. Bearing more than a passing resemblance to Christopher Lee, Mayne is wonderfully hammy, while former Hogan’s Heroes beauty Nina Talbot enjoys a few scene stealing moments. Then there’s pre-Re-Animator Jeffrey Combs in an early role, acting circles around his less gifted co-stars before losing his head.

Conrad Ragzoff: Motivational Speaker

But Frightmare is somewhat undone by a meandering pace and a story that seldom rises above perfunctory. Too bad, really, because the concept itself had the potential to put a wild spin on the old slasher formula. As is, however, the movie isn’t completely without merit. 

No stranger to home video, Frightmare has been released on Blu-ray before, but this time Troma Entertainment is doing the honors. The overall picture and sound are pretty decent, while the bonus features are a combination of those from Vinegar Syndrome’s 2015 Blu-ray and Troma’s own DVD release from 2005. The Troma-produced supplements have little or nothing to do with the movie itself, mostly just a bunch of self-promotion, some featuring the world’s oldest 12-year-old, Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - Man with a Camera is an audio interview with director of photography Joel King (and the best of the bonus features); A Gory Lesson From the Set of Meat for Satan’s Ice Box has Lloyd Kaufman discussing his participation in another low budget splatter flick (and has nothing to do with Frightmare); Troma in Times Square also has nothing to do with Frightmare; Perhaps you can  tell me why Radiation March is included here.

3 AUDIO COMMENTARIES - 1) By writer-director Norman Thaddeus Vane; 2) By David Del Valle and David DeCoteau; 3) By members of a podcast called The Hysteria Continues. All three are listed as separate bonus features.

INTRODUCTION - By Lloyd Kaufman and Debbie Rechon, which mostly consists of the former trying to be funny.

MUSIC VIDEO - “Innards!” is a musical tribute to, you guessed it, Troma and Lloyd Kaufman.

ARTWORK GALLERY

TRAILER

EVIL DEAD RISE(S) Again in 4K...Now with Bells & Whistles

EVIL DEAD RISE Limited Edition (4K UHD)

2023 / 96 min

Arrow Video

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

The second film of the rebooted franchise (with a third on the way), Evil Dead Rise was released on 4K by Warner Brothers not even three years ago. I don’t know if Arrow Video’s version is a rerelease of the exact same transfer or if they did another one on their own. But I guess it doesn’t matter since they look and sound exactly the same. However, WB’s version was essentially a bare bones release, with no bonus features (unless you count the digital code).

Conversely, this Limited Edition from Arrow is loaded with substantial supplemental material (most of it brand new) and ample incentive for Evil Dead and 4K fans to purchase it again, who won’t be disappointed. And if one’s thinking of upgrading to 4K, unless price is an issue, this one is definitely the better choice. Those bonus features are listed below.

As for the movie itself…though stylish and atmospheric, Evil Dead Rise isn’t quite as ambitious as Fede Alvarez’ stellar 2013 remake, if only because writer-director Lee Cronin is content to tell the same story in a different setting. Other than taking place in a crumbling urban apartment building, it’s business as usual...which ain’t necessarily a bad thing. Sudden change isn’t always welcome in horror, especially regarding a franchise with such an awesomely simple concept to begin with: Book gets found, book gets read, people get possessed. 

This time the book is found by a teenager along with a couple of dusty old vinyl records. Both were stashed there in 1923 by a priest who was dumb enough to record himself reading aloud from the book. Naturally, the kid plays the record. Of course, you know the rest…

The floor is lava. 

…or maybe you don’t, but fear not. As with every other film in the franchise, no previous experience is required. Evil Dead Rise tells a stand-alone story that never operates on the assumption the audience has seen the other films. It quickly establishes - or reestablishes - its premise before the blood & body parts fly. In that respect, this might be considered more of a spin-off of Alvarez’ Evil Dead than a traditional sequel (maybe even another remake). 

Still, longtime fans will certainly appreciate the numerous references and Easter Eggs which pay homage to Raimi’s films - some obvious, others subtle - including the classic eyeball gag from Evil Dead II. Speaking of which, one aspect where Evil Dead Rise definitely equals its predecessor is the abundance of gruesome, gonzo violence, which is impressive and accomplished with good ol’ fashioned practical effects.

Elsewhere, the characters are mostly perfunctory, but the overall performances are pretty good, particularly Alyssa Sutherland as bedeviled mother Ellie. Though the familiar story precludes any real surprises, Evil Dead Rise is a nasty good time, with plenty of unnerving scenes, a few effective jump scares and enough blood to fill a swimming pool. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.

INTERVIEWS - Come Get Some is an interview with actor Lily Sullivan; Mommy Deadite is an interview with actor Alyssa Sutherland; The Deadite's Daughter is an interview with actor Gabrielle Echols; The Levitating Dead is an interview with actor Anna Maree Thomas; Conjuring Deadites features make-up effects artist Luke Polti; Chopping Up Deadites is an interview with editor Bryan Shaw; Sonic Possessions is the an interview with sound designer Peter Albrechtsen; Music to Swallow Your Soul is an interview with composer Steven McKeon.

FEATURETTES - Raising a New Evil Dead is a 7-minute featurette from 2023; Behind the Scenes was shot on-set by writer-director Lee Cronin.

“GHOST TRAIN” - A 16 minute short by Lee Cronin, filmed in 2013.

CONCEPT ART & STORYBOARD GALLERIES

TRAILER & TV SPOTS

HAZBIN HOTEL - SEASON ONE: Results May Vary

HAZBIN HOTEL - Season One (Blu-ray)

2024 / 184 min (8 episodes)

A24

Review by Carl, the Couch Potato😼

There reaches a moment in life when you come to the realization that you're no longer in the demographic sweet spot preferred by the media biz, especially regarding music, the internet and TV. While I’ve heard of Doja Cat, I couldn’t name a single one of her songs. And unless one of my daughters is nearby, I can’t tell you why many current young celebrities are even famous (especially all those yahoos on YouTube).

Speaking of my daughters…when Season One of Hazbin Hotel arrived for review, my first question was, “What the hell is this?” One of them informed me it was a popular animated show on Amazon, but by her tone, I got the impression she wasn’t among its fans. Doing some additional background digging (which I often do for context prior to reviewing programs I’m not familiar with), I learned Hazbin Hotel was created by Vivienne Medrano, a YouTuber who goes by the name of VivziePop, and YouTube was where the show first became popular. No wonder I’d never heard of it.

Perhaps that makes me the wrong guy to review something like this, since I’m likely a generation or two beyond the show’s intended audience. But I’m nothing if not open-minded. After all, I knew nothing about the Fallout video game before reviewing the first season of the TV series, but think it’s one of the best things Amazon Prime ever put out. So the following are initial impressions of Hazbin Hotel from someone who would never have sought it out on his own…

The basic premise is kind of cool. Mostly taking place in Hell, it centers around Charlie Morningstar, the daughter of Lucifer, who opens the Happy Hotel in hopes of giving the damned a chance to redeem themselves. The idea is for this to be an alternative to the extermination of souls, which Heaven currently employs to keep Hell from getting overcrowded. However, building an entire season (let alone two) around such a premise without being rote is a challenge the show struggles with.

In terms of the animation and character design, I was reminded of a few shows my daughters used to enjoy, like The Powerpuff Girls and Teen Titans GO. I suspect VivziePop probably grew up on them, too. These characters are generally defined by exaggerated appearances and vivid colors (primarily red). Though elaborately drawn, they ultimately look like the products of the artists’ influences.

Too often, the show bombards the viewer with an obnoxiously hyperactive tone. It's also continuously and abrasively loud, with a lot of characters yelling. Of course, this style is typical of many modern cartoons, but for some viewers (like yours truly) the overall effect grows numbing pretty quickly.

"Ooh...I thought I paid that."

Supposedly not intended for kids - though I’m certain they’re its primary audience - Hazbin Hotel is frequently violent, crude and loaded with foul language, as well as plenty of sexual and scatological humor. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with that. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes not. However, it occasionally reeks of a simple minded attempt to bother the pearl clutchers. 

On the other hand, Hazbin Hotel is admirably inclusive and features several LBGTQ+ characters. Any TV show that can potentially have far-right mouthbreathers crying “woke!” can’t be all bad.

It is also a musical, with two numbers per episode. This is the neatest aspect of the show. Some of the songs are wonderful - sometimes wonderfully raunchy - and nicely fit within the narrative of the episodes in which they appear. I especially enjoyed the numbers that sound almost Disneyesque (at least until you hear the lyrics).

As with anything created for the niche crowd, results may vary. I’m content never to watch it again, but am also not the show’s intended audience and many of my criticisms would be considered virtues by those who go in for this sort of thing. For them, this two-disc set is probably worth grabbing. Fans who’ve enjoyed it on Amazon might consider it as well, since it boasts a great Blu-ray transfer and includes a couple of physical goodies.

EXTRA KIBBLES

AUDIO COMMENTARIES - For all eight episodes.

MINI POSTER

TRADING CARD