Cinefantastique Online

Not much happening in the way of DVD releases this week, beside the usual parade of undistinguished direct-to-video fare. The highlight of this week’s releases is the German Expressionsism Collection, which includes four titles: THE HANDS OF ORLAC, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, SECRETS OF A SOUL, and WARNING SHADOWS. These silent films from the 1920s has a profound influence on the horror genre; CABINET, in particular, prefigures dozens of films that used the “it’s only a dream” ending; more important, it is perhaps the first film to use visuals to portray the point-of-view of a demented mind. Available separately is THE HANDS OF ORLAC (1924), this is the classic tale of a man who receives a transplanted pair of hands, only to find that they still have a will of their own. (This was remade with Peter Lorre as a sound film titled MAD LOVE.). This set encompasses an important piece of horror history; fans of horror films, of foreign films, classic films, or silent films should take interest.

One new title that might be worth checking out is SPIRAL, which makes its debut on DVD after a handful of theatrical play dates earlier this month. This is the follow-up from the HATCHET team of director Adam Green and actor Joel David Moore; this time they’re making something closer to a psychological thriller than a slasher film. Hard-core Karloff collectors may be amused by the three-disc Karloff Classics set, another one of those public domain offerings that appear all too often on DVD: squeeze in a bunch of forgotten titles, call them “classics,” and hope somebody who doesn’t know any better buys it as a present for a friend. Even funnier, given the way HD DVD is rapidly going down the tubes, is the release of THE INVASION on a Combo DVD and Standard DVD disc. Oh well, a lot of good people paid good money for those HD DVD players, so it’s nice that someone is still releasing discs for them to play, before consigning the equipment to the scrapheap.