Weeding out what is and what isn’t a “horror” film is tough, but by this writer’s definition, horror is about exposing the dark side of the human condition, either by graphically confronting it with realism or cloaking it in fantasy. Horror is dread, confusion, the breakdown of things we trust, the bending of taboos, the invading of our social and psychological comfort zones. And although Italian maverick Tinto Brass’ (CALIGULA) 1976 Nazi-sploitation film SALON KITTY may not be viewed by the world at large as a horror film, I argue that it is. Hence the review that you are currently reading…

“In space no one can hear you scream…” Well, unless you’re in possession of the new ALIEN ANTHOLOGY Blu-ray box set from Fox Home Entertainment, which should give fans cause to emit sound barrier-breaking shrieks aplenty.

The quote on the cover of DAMNED BY DAWN boldly proclaims “Sick of waiting for EVIL DEAD 4? Check out DAMNED BY DAWN.” Umm, OK. Right from the onset, DAMNED BY DAWN (on DVD and Blu-ray from Image Entertainment) riffs directly from Sam Raimi’s classic creepers—everything from his distinctive camerawork and rapid cuts to the jittery drop-frames and insane fast-motion tracking shots, right down to the fake-looking trees. In fact, DAMNED BY DAWN walks the fine line of cinematic plagiarism.

If you haven’t already heard, there’s a wild, weird, irreverent, illogical and downright anarchic brand of cinema exploding out of the ass of Japan right now. From the likes of Noboru Iguchi, Yoshihiro Nishimura and Tak Sakaguchi (and, at least once, all three at the same time) audiences have been treated to the madness that is VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL, TOKYO GORE POLICE, MACHINE GIRL and MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD, to name a few.

One of the most overused scenes in horror films is a character seeing a terrifying image in a mirror that quickly disappears. So you have to admire the sheer boldness of MIRRORS to build an entire film around this visual device—and even more so that it’s attempted again in MIRRORS 2, a quasi-sequel now available in a Blu-ray/DVD combo and solo DVD from Fox Home Entertainment.

BRAIN DEAD, now on DVD from Vicious Circle/Breaking Glass, is a welcome blast of ’80s-style goofiness and gore. That’s because it comes from one of the specialists of the genre, director Kevin Tenney.

I watched Roel Reiné’s THE LOST TRIBE two days ago, and as I sit down to write this review, I will admit—it’s a bit of a struggle to recall specific details, character names and anything else that really struck me as original and outstanding. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed the film, and Reiné has some talent as a cinematic storyteller. It’s just that after another few days, I will probably have forgotten the movie entirely—and perhaps along with it, this review I’m writing. The film is decent, it just isn’t great.