DVD SPOTLIGHT: VCI Entertainment

Fighting with Kit Carson

Kit Carson leads a shipment of government gold on a train that is then held-up by Kraft and his Mystery Riders. Carson manages to escape with the loot, but each episode brings him closer to the Mystery Riders, as they make further attempts to steal the treasure. Johnny Mack Brown plays the heroic Kit Carson, and he does a pretty good, albeit unintentionally comical, job portraying the famous scout. The episodes are light and fun; however, the entire series runs a tad too long. Still, there's enough action and suspense in each episode that you may find yourself tuning in for more and more of that charming do-gooder and his many (mis)adventures. Also worth mentioning are the frequent, somewhat trippy, surprisingly experimental shot transitions.

This DVD presents the serial in its full 12 episodes, each of which run around twenty-something minutes (it varies). The 1.33:1 black-and-white transfer looks pretty damn good for something shot in 1933. The audio, in mono, is fuzzy as all hell, but that's to be expected -- this certainly ain't Criterion. Also included are more classic serial trailers and a few bios. Movie rating: 5.5/10. Disc rating: 6.5/10.

The Dark Power

An old Indian guy dies. An unsuspecting group of college coeds then move into his vacant, spooky house mounted over the very spot that evil sorcerers once buried themselves many hundreds of years ago. Evil sorcerer zombies come back from the grave and begin to perform various warrior skills on helpless victims: archery skills, knife skills, nun chuck skills...

See legendary '40s B-Western star Lash La Rue (aka "The King of the Bullwhip") kick/whip some serious zombie sorcerer ass with his trusty weapon of choice. As a matter of fact, the only reason to even bother with this film would have to be the climactic bullwhip fight between the zombie sorcerer and La Rue. Each wields the mighty whip, but only one man/evil zombie sorcerer lives on. It's simultaneously hilarious, crazy and unwatchable.

Check out The Dark Power on DVD and see it in a brand spankin' new anamorphic widescreen transfer, a new head bangin' mono soundtrack, thrilling audio commentary with writer/director Phil Smoot and editor Sherwood Jones, not to mention "Remembering Lash La Rue," a narrated video collection of stills, art, and press material. Or you can just skip it altogether. Movie rating: 4.5/10. Disc rating: 7/10.

Alien Outlaw

Phil Smoot is back (for the second, and last, time)! And so is "The King of the Bullwhip"!! And so is yet another B-western star, Sunset Carson!!! The only downside being that La Rue doesn't carry his faithful whip (for shame). The film is more or less about a bunch of comical, gun-toting aliens that like to kill humans and give each other the occasional morale-boosting high five. Also, it's worth noting (for comedic purposes) that the back of this DVD actually claims that the film was a possible inspiration for Predator.

Highlights of the film include a man saving a woman from alien peril with the aid of his fishing rod. That's right, he actually uses a fishing rod a la There's Something About Mary, and even manages to defeat the alien with this less-than-effective technique. Other highlights include a fat guy in overalls getting shot at (always a gas), various moments of only mildly gratuitous T&A, and did I mention the fat guy in overalls? How 'bout that fishing rod scene?

In all honestly, the film wasn't THAT bad, it was just highly forgettable. Something less forgettable is the substantial amount of special features included with this first-time-ever video release. For starters, the DVD boasts a new anamorphic widescreen (and fool-screen) transfer, commentary with Smoot (gotta love that name) and his editor, Sunset Carson interviewing Lash La Rue, Carson's behind the scenes interview with newcomer Kari Anderson (our scantily clad, sharp shooter protagonist), news conference footage, behind-the-scenes stuff, and a trailer for The Dark Power, sans bullwhip wielding zombie sorcerers. Movie rating: 4/10. Disc rating: 9/10

Forever Evil

I can't for the life of me imagine anyone sitting through two cuts of this film but the DVD boasts both of them. For starters, both cuts are painfully long (111 and 120 minutes), and lets not forget that the film is just plain painful to watch. Nothing works here. At the very least, I gotta give the filmmakers some credit due to one or two moments of unintended humor that made it almost worth a fraction of my time.

A group of college grads (actually, thirtysomethings with receding hairlines in rugby shirts and John Belushi inspired "college" sweaters) head to a cabin in the woods for some partying. For our viewing (dis)pleasure, one of the grad students looks remarkably like Bob Saget, circa the Danny Tanner years. The kids hang out for a few hours, spew out some vial dialogue, get brutally murdered, etc. The first third of the film really comes off as a blatant Evil Dead knock-off with (shockingly) an even lower budget and zero humor.

Seriously, the DVD's intro and main menus seem to have higher production values than the feature itself, which includes highlights such as Bob Saget, a pregnant woman's ripped open stomach (with a missing fetus), and, subsequently, a demon giving birth to the now demonized fetus. What else...there was also...nope, that's it. Extras include director's commentary, a 1.33:1 transfer, newly enhanced Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (or Stereo), promo trailers, and a photo gallery. Movie rating: 3/10. Disc rating: 7/10.

High Lonesome

John Drew Barrymore plays "Cooncat," a drifter accused of murders that he did not commit. Of course, no one believes him until they finally come to grips with what Cooncat actually witnessed. You see, the boy's seein' things: he describes the killers as two men that were allegedly killed in a range war some 15 years ago. Are the two men real or are they in fact cowboy g-g-ghosts? Or is Cooncat really a bloodthirsty murderer gone mad? Actually, they're real, no ghosts here. That would be way too unique.

High Lonesome was shot on location in the remote "Big Bend" region of Texas. As a nice touch, the filmmakers acknowledge the men whose land they were shooting on by showing their branding logos with their names during the opening credits. Barrymore does a lot of overacting here, but he's still quite the charming little whippersnapper. The scenery is pleasant, and there's also some solid action and brief tension to be found periodically throughout the film. Still, the story drags, and that really shouldn't be happening in an 80 minute film.

The DVD boasts a nice Technicolor 1.33:1 transfer, some talent bios, a photo gallery, some VCI western promos, and even an episode from the series "Stories of the Century." Movie rating: 5.5/10. Disc rating: 6.5/10.

Sundowners

From western novelist Alan LeMay (director of High Lonesome) and director George Templeton comes a nice little, shot-on-location western about brothers on opposite sides of the law (never heard of that device). Robert Preston plays "Kid Wichita," all around moustache-wearing badass. Robert Sterling plays the nobler brother, but his son (played by John Drew Barrymore) seems to be caught in the crossfire.

The back of the DVD mistakenly mixes up the two main characters in its first of only three sentences. The last sentence tells us not to confuse this film with the '60s version, then goes on to describe the plot of the '60s version. Boy, someone at VCI must've slept right through this one...and I don't blame them. Again, it doesn't look good when an 80 minute film is half filler (ie. less than breathtaking shots of people riding horses, etc. that serve no narrative purpose whatsoever).

One moment in the film that I'm grateful for is the climactic shootout at the canyon. What I really love about this climax is the use of the infamous bullwhip. Yes, the bullwhip is back again -- it's haunting me! Preston and Sterling, both B-western veterans, give solid performances, while Barrymore does a lot of overacting (hey, he was only 18). The DVD comes equipped with a clean 1.33:1 transfer in Technicolor, talent bios, a video photo gallery, VCI western promos, and a bonus episode from the "Stories of the Century" television series. Movie rating: 5/10. Disc rating: 6.5/10.