ThePlague Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Fan Rant: How Sony Sank 'The Plague'
Filed under: Horror », Distribution », Home Entertainment »
So a few years back I reviewed a horror flick for DVD Talk called The Plague. Not great, not awful, but kind of a choppy time-waster that starts out with a cool premise before devolving into some sort of forgettable zombie affair. A few months later I got an email from The Plague director Hal Masonberg, thanking me for the review, but also intent on setting the record straight: That a film he directed, co-wrote, and had big plans for ... was basically yanked out of his hands by Sony (Screen Gems Division), re-cut (badly), and dumped onto the video market with Clive Barker's name in front of the title. (Barker's production company made the film, but it is not based on anything he has ever written, so it seems really obnoxious to call it Clive Barker's The Plague. Of course I mean no disrespect to Clive Barker, who is a true lord among horror writers, but I'm just a little confused.)
I'm certainly not the first horror geek to cover this tale, but I figure it's worth mentioning again -- simply because I like people who try to make good horror films, and I say Hal Masonberg got screwed bad. Now the guy is risking some burnt bridges because he simply WILL NOT STOP trying to get his "Writer's & Director's Cut" released by Sony. The man is in a tough spot because it's really hard to support a Special Edition DVD when the first DVD went mostly unnoticed -- but Sony seems to think Hal has the better part of a million bucks, because that's what they're asking in return for the rights to the property.
Tips for Tuesday: New to DVD on 9/5
Filed under: New on DVD », Home Entertainment »
Recent TheatricalsDead Man's Shoes (Magnolia) -- A fantastic revenge thriller from British director Shane Meadows. (audio commentary, featurette, deleted scene, alternate ending)
District B13 (Magnolia) -- One of the craziest action flicks in years, and a whole lot of fun. (mini-doco, extended fight scene, blooper reel)
Kinky Boots (Miramax) -- Yet another drag queen shoe store musical comedy from the UK. (audio commentary, two deleted scenes, two featurettes)
United 93 (Universal) -- A fine film (with an inevitably harrowing finalé), but not one that screams out for repeat viewings. (director's commentary, featurette, memorial pages)
Unknown White Male (Wellspring) -- The validity of this documentary has been questioned, but either way it's a fascinating look at the horrors of amnesia. (six featurettes)
Catalog Titles
Blade Runner (Warner Bros.) -- Be aware: This is the same DVD as the current BR release, only with a new anamorphic transfer. The mega-swanky Special Editions arrive next year!
Brazil (Criterion) -- A one-disc (and now-anamorphic) version of Criterion's superlative three-disc set. (director's commentary)
Frankenstein Unbound (Fox) -- From director Roger Corman, starring John Hurt, Bridget Fonda, Raul Julia and Jason Patric. Yep, it's a weird one. (no extras)
Gojira (Sony) -- Includes the U.S. version and (for the first time) the original uncut Japanese version of the classic monster movie. (audio commentaries, documentaries, featurettes, etc.)
Seven Samurai (Criterion) -- 'Nuff said. (two audio commentaries, three documentaries, featurettes, etc.)
Direct-to-Video
Broken Trail (Sony) -- Technically this Robert Duvall oater was made for cable, but I think it's one of the best Westerns in years. (featurette)
Dorm Daze 2 (Lionsgate) -- If there's anything better than a National Lampoon "comedy," it's the sequel. (extras tbd)
The Plague (Sony) -- Earth's children fall into a coma, only to awaken years later with unpleasant things on their collective mind. (audio commentary, eight deleted scenes)
Population 436 (Sony) -- How does a town maintain the exact same population for 100 years? (alternate ending)
Barker's New Horror to Debut on DVD
The very first horror flick to tumble out of Clive Barker's new Midnight Picture Show shingle will be something called The Plague ... and it'll be going straight to Sony Home Video a little later this year. (One hates to say it, especially when "one" is a guy who spends a lot of time reviewing direct-to-video horror movies, but -- yowch.)I will resist casting judgment at this early time, but fans will want to know that The Plague is not actually based on a Barker work, nor did the guy work on the screenplay. Nope, Mr. Barker's acting solely as producer on his new outfit's inaugural release. (The second one, Midnight Train, is due next year -- and is based on a wonderfully nasty Clive Barker story.) The Plague was directed by first-timer Hal Masonberg from a screenplay written by Masonberg and Teal Minton (also a first-timer).
Fangoria has the scoop on the flick, and some DVD cover art, but the plot is about a plague that causes the earth's children to fall into a decade-long coma -- only to awaken with murder on their minds. No set release date for the DVD just yet, but here's a cast list just for fun: James Van Der Beek, Ivana Milocevic, Brad Hunt, and one of the true-blue horror queens: Dee Wallace-Stone.
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