Freaked, Blade Runner, Horror of Dracula

Bob Rose
Critic, asitecalledfred.com

Freaked is a hand grenade of funny that most people have never had the pleasure of exploding to. I can know the future success and/or worth of a budding friendship based on a ­person’s fandom of Freaked. If you ­don’t “get it,” I really ­don’t see us working. Sorry! My personal favorite extra feature on the two-disc DVD is codirector Alex ­Winter’s student film, Squeal of Death.

The Deluxe Edition DVD of Deliverance is something I cherish mainly because of a 35th-anniversary retrospective. This is a film in which the reputation that precedes it is much more one-dimensional than the complex moral allegory that it actually holds. To me, Deliverance is much more than a mere “rape movie,” it is a film about the far off corners of our world we never see but that are close enough to reach, and the cold, quiet danger that lurks ­there.

Freaked
(USA)
1993, Anchor Bay
List price: $34.98 (two discs)

Deliverance
(USA)
1972, Warner Brothers
List price: $19.97

Kevin A. Perkins
Director, My Boring Zombie Apocalypse; myboringzombieapocalypse.com

Since ­we’re in the middle of summer, I picked films originally released in the summer, films that studios fully intended to BE summer blockbusters but went under like a rock. Big Trouble in Little China is one of my favorites, and one I can watch over and over again. A perfect meld of action and humor. And Kurt Russell is the ­man.

Blade Runner is arguably my favorite film, the one ­I’d take if we play the desert-island scenario. Not the greatest film of all time but one that I saw at just the right age to leave an indelible impression on my mind. ­I’m one of the tiny minority to argue that the Harrison Ford voiceover adds to the film. You see something new every single time you watch — and by buying the suitcase, you get five different versions of the film to ­enjoy!

Big Trouble in Little China
(USA)
1986, Twentieth Century Fox
List price: $9.98

Blade Runner (Ultimate ­Collector’s Edition)
1982, Warner Brothers
List price: $50.99 (five discs)

P. Scott Moore
F/X makeup artist, My Boring Zombie Apocalypse

The trend of “forlorn” or “love struck” vampires prompted me to share films that depict a more classic, sinister, and powerful interpretation of the undead. Horror of Dracula may not be the best or truest telling of Bram ­Stoker’s novel, but its beautiful gothic sets, impressive cast, and atmospheric tone set the bar for every Dracula film to follow. As Dracula, Christopher Lee depicts a creature ­that’s predatory and savage, while still maintaining a strong eroticism, all without speaking a ­word!

Shadow of the Vampire is a film-within-a-film that takes a “what if” approach to the silent horror classic Nosferatu. F. W. Murnau (John Malkovich) is a director who wants to maintain the authenticity of his vampire story (stolen from Stoker) by secretly employing a real vampire, Max Schreck (Willem Dafoe). Malkovich and Dafoe give incredibly convincing performances and director E. Elias Merhige gives the film an eery ­realism.

Horror of Dracula
(England)
1958, Warner Brothers
List price: $9.98

Shadow of the Vampire
(England/USA)
2000, Lionsgate
List price: $14.98