Episode 271: Chief of Station, The Prank, Birthday Girl, What Remains, The Spider, Samurai Cop 2

Hi everyone and welcome to a belated episode - I've recently had eye surgery and the recovery has been longer than expected! As usual, click the link to see the trailer for each of the main reviews!
In this episode, we kick off with CHIEF OF STATION (Signature Entertainment) - the latest action thriller from director Jesse V. Johnson, starring Aaron Eckhart and Olga Kurylenko!
THE PRANK (Signature Entertainment)  is a dark comedy in which two highschoolers spread a rumour that their science teacher murdered a student - with hilarious results!
There's certainly nothing hilarious about BIRTHDAY GIRL, where a mother tries to help her daughter after she is date-raped on a cruise ship.
Things get even more somber with WHAT REMAINS (Icon Films), in which a self-confessed serial killer starts to question his own guilt.
 
Our Short Shot is THE SPIDER, a genius take on the Spiderman origin tale! Click the link to see the whole short film!
In our previous episode, we reviewed Samurai Cop as our DTV Throwback. This time, we review the sequel, SAMURAI COP 2! All I'll say is: this really defied all of our expectations!

Episode 269: Silence of the Prey, The Last Kumite, Breathe, Mr and Mrs Smith: Love and War, The Fantastic Four

This week Mike, Rich and Steve check out three new releases:
 
SILENCE OF THE PREY (The Horror Collective) mixes a bit of folk horror and uncomfortable right wing politics a la Get Out...
THE LAST KUMITE (Altitude Film Distribution)  brings together a stellar DTV cast for a love letter to tournament movies gone by...
BREATHE (Signature Entertainment)  also brings together a great cast in what is also a familiar tale...
 
Our Short Shot is MR AND MRS SMITH: LOVE AND WAR - this is made by Big Films, who made one of my all-time favourite shorts, Warlike. Check out the whole film by clicking the link, and explore some of their other work while you are there!
 
In honour of the late, great Roger Corman, our DTV Throwback is THE FANTASTIC FOUR - this is a film shrouded in urban legend (check out our review where Rich has to correct me on getting the details wrong) - a film which was basically made purely to allow someone to retain the rights, and never officially released! We discovered a very decent copy of the film on Youtube, HERE. If you want to learn more about the film's history, check out the documentary DOOMED
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Episode 268: Founders Day, Hellhound, Witch, Hope and Glory - a Mad Max fan film, The Spider within, Timelapse

In this episode Mike, Rich and Steve look at four new films - as usual, click the link to view the trailer for each:
FOUNDERS DAY (Blue Finch Film Releasing) is a slasher from the people behind last year's She Came From The Woods - a film highly regarded by us. Will their latest reach the same heights?
Louis Mandylor stars as a contract killer sent to Thailand in HELLHOUND (Miracle Media). Could this be one of his better outings of late? 
WITCH (101 Films) is a low budget horror film with awesome production values, but does it have what it takes in the story department? And will it annoy Mike with one of his pet peeves??
 
HOPE AND GLORY is a Mad Max fan film, but at 42minuted running time we decided to cover it with the other feature releases. Attempting to ride the coat-tails of Fury Road seems a very risky proposition - can this pull it off? Check out the link to watch the whole film!
 
The Short Shot is THE SPIDER WITHIN, an official short set within the Sony/Marvel animated Spiderverse, and sees Miles Morales having a particularly stressful day. Click the link to watch the whole short film!
 
The DTV Throwback is TIMELAPSE, in which some flat-mates discover a machine which takes photos 24 hours in the future and tries to exploit it to get rich, with predictably disastrous results!
 
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Episode 267: Jericho Ridge, The Bad Shepherd, Prey!, Land of Bad, Alberto and the Beast, Pulse

This week Mike and Rich tackle four new releases - click the links to see the trailers for each:
 
We kick off with JERICHO RIDGE (The Movie Partnership) a film which many of our US colleagues had on their top ten lists for 2023, and finally makes its way to the UK! Take a listen to see if we agree!
THE BAD SHEPHERD (Scatena & Rosner Films) finds four friends on a hunting trip turning on each other when they come across a bag full of cash...
PREY! (Signature Entertainment) finds Ryan Phillippe and Emile Hirsch crash-landing in an African nature reserve...
LAND OF BAD (Signature Entertainment) sees Liam Hemsworth on a mission in the Philippines, with Russel Crowe as his eyes in the sky...
 
Our Short Shot is ALBERTO AND THE BEAST, in which a sound engineer discovers BigFoot - click the link to watch the whole film!
 
Our DTV Throwback is PULSE, in which a young boy has to convince his dad and stepmom of a malevolent electrical presence in their house... this can be found on Youtube - click the link to watch the film!
 
Follow the Short Shots  on X (formerly Twitter) where you will find hundreds of links to awesome short films!
Don't forget to also check out our main show, the DTV DIGEST on X and FACEBOOK!

Episode 265: Road House, Restore Point, Ship of the Damned, Wanted Man, Vice Grip, Solo

This week, Mike and Rich tackle four new releases - as usual, click the links to see the trailers for each...
 
ROAD HOUSE (Amazon) has been a massive hit for Amazon Prime, but how does it hold up to the original and what did we make of it? Take a listen to find out!
RESTORE POINT (Plaion Pictures) is a Czech sci-fi thriller as a female detective investigates a mysterious double homicide.
SHIP OF THE DAMNED (High Fliers) is the latest Steve Lawson film, and in a break from his usual literary adaptations, this is an original tale set in contemporary England!
WANTED MAN (Signature Entertainment) sees Dolph Lundgren star, direct and co-write a tale of a racist cop on a path of redemption as he attempts to escort a witness across the Mexican border....
 
Our Short Shot is VICE GRIP, from director Dillon Vibbart, whose work we've covered before. Click the link to check out this supernatural tale of an influencer being attacked in her nightmares!
We round off with our DTV Throwback, SOLO, starring Mario Van Peebles as a cyborg soldier who develops a conscience and goes rogue! 
 
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Episode 264: Hundreds of Beavers, All Souls, Lovely Dark and Deep, Shadow Fist 3, Control

This week Mike, Rich and Steve tackle three new releases - click the links to check out the trailers!
 
We kick off with HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS (Raven Banner), a film which garnered a lot of attention last year on the festival circuit. Check out the episode to find out our thoughts on it!
Next is ALL SOULS (Signature Entertainment) - the title and artwork might have you thinking this is a horror film, but is actually about a young woman coerced by the police to become an informant.
Finally there is LOVELY, DARK AND DEEP (Blue Finch Film Releasing), about a female ranger isolated in the "back country" of a national park. 
 
Our Short shot is SHADOWFIST 3: THE FINAL CHAPTER. This is a 30 minute short about the quest for a secret, powerful scroll. Click the link to see the whole film.
Our DTV Throwback is CONTROL, a film most of the team hadn't heard of before, but our interest was certainly piqued by the cast: Ray Liotta is a Death Row inmate saved from execution to participate in a drug trial which would modify his behaviour. Willem Dafoe and Stephen Rea play the sciences while Michelle Rodrigues stars as the love interest.
Follow the Short Shots  on X (formerly Twitter) where you will find hundreds of links to awesome short films!
Don't forget to also check out our main show, the DTV DIGEST on X and FACEBOOK!

Episode 262: Frankenstein: Legacy, The Abyss, The Black Mass, Tropic, V/H/S/85, The Spirit Hunters, Wedlock

In this episode Mike, Rich and Steve tackle five new releases...
 
Starting with FRANKENSTEIN: LEGACY (101 Films) - this starts in familiar territory but heads off to be its own thing - check out what we thought of it!
THE ABYSS (Netflix) is a disaster movie set in the mining town of Kiruna, Sweden....
THE BLACK MASS (Cleopatra Entertainment) is a stylised account of Ted Bundy's killiing spree at a Sorority House....
TROPIC (Blue Finch Film Releasing) involves twins training and competing for a slot on a space mission, when one gets infected with an alien organism...
V/H/S/85 (Acorn Media)- hot on the heels of last episode comes another anthology - how does it compare to '94? Take a listen to our thoughts on it!
 
Our Short Shot is THE SPIRIT HUNTERS, a stylish action film from Finland. Click the link to watch the whole film!
 
Our DTV Throwback is the classic, WEDLOCK, starring Rutger Hauer. This is currently free to view on Youtube, click the link!
 
Follow the Short Shots  on X (formerly Twitter) where you will find hundreds of links to awesome short films!
Don't forget to also check out our main show, the DTV DIGEST on X and FACEBOOK!

Episode 261: Freaks Vs The Reich, Monolith, The Troubles: A Dublin Story, The List, Underground, VHS 94, Ascendants, Jason Takes Manhattan

In this episode Mike, Rich and Steve tackle six of the recent releases; click the links to watch the trailers for each!
 
We kick off with FREAKS VS THE REICH (Dazzler) - not the best film title, but boy, what a movie! 
Next is MONOLITH (Blue Finch Film) - a story about a journalist who investigates a strange phenomenon and discovers her past is tied to it. This is one of the best "Covid" films so go check it out!
THE TROUBLES: A DUBLIN STORY (High Fliers) seeks to intertwine a crime narrative with terrorism in the 1980s - it has mixed results for sure...
THE LIST (Miracle Media)  is set in South America and sees a wealthy family the victim of a PURGE style event after the overthrow of the old regime.
UNDERGROUND (Miracle Media) find a group of girls on a bachelorette weekend wander off into some disused tunnels...
Finally, V/H/S/94 (acorn media) is the latest edition of the anthology series - will it be any better than the others?
 
Our Short Shot is ASCENDANTS - this was shown at last year's @FSFFestival and is largely the work of Leroy Kincaid - check out the other films on his channel!
 
Our DTV Throwback is FRIDAY 13th PART 8 - JASON TAKES MANHATTAN - this was the first of the franchise to go straight to video, and finds Jason Voorhees aboard a cruise ship, heading for the Big Apple...
 
Follow the Short Shots  on X (formerly Twitter) where you will find hundreds of links to awesome short films!
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Episode 260: The Bricklayer, Fortunes of War, Head Count, Cold Meat, American Star, The Court Jester, Pyewacket

This week Mike, Rich and Steve tackle five new releases - as usual, click the link to watch the trailer for each film...
We kick off with THE BRICKLAYER (Sky), the latest thriller in which a man with an innocuous profession turns out to be a bad-ass retired agent!
Hot on the heels of Warblade, which we covered in episode 257, comes FORTUNES OF WAR (101 Films), another WW2 movie about a disparate group of soldiers up against a superior Nazi force. 
HEAD COUNT (Blue Finch Film Releasing) is a quirky thriller in which an escaped convict finds himself at the mercy of his own revolver and must backtrack through his memory to work out how many bullets remain...
COLD MEAT (Signature Entertainment) is a survival horror movie involving people trapped in a snow blizzard...
Finally, spritely assassin Ian McShane finds himself in Fuerteventura waiting for details about his last target, in AMERICAN STAR (Vertigo Releasing).
 
Our Short Shot is THE COURT JESTER, starring Pauly Shore as Richard Simmons. This is from the team behind The Samurai and the Cowboy so you know its gonna be good! Click the link to see the whole short.
 
We wrap things as usual with our DTV Throwback - this week its my choice, of PYEWACKET, in which a teen bites off more than she can chew when she summons an evil spirit in a moment of anger. You can find this available to stream on Amazon and other platforms.
 
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Episode 258: On The Line, Punch, The Island, Race For Glory -Audi vs Lancia, Scooby Doo in Spring-trapped, Vendetta

In this episode Mike, Rich and Steve take a look at four new releases - as usual clicking the links will take you to the trailers...
Kicking off with 'ON THE LINE' (Miracle Media), in which a telephone operator finds herself involved in a murder and kidnapping...
'PUNCH' (Miracle Media) is set in an off-season seaside town and deals with a young woman being hounded by a killer wearing a "Mr Punch" mask...
'THE ISLAND' (Plaion Pictures), an action-filled film featuring Michael J. White trying to solve the murder of his brother on a Caribbean island...
RACE FOR GLORY: AUDI Vs LANCIA (Signature Entertainment), based on the true story of underdogs Lancia taking on Audi during the 1983 rally championships...
Our Short Shot is  'SCOOBY DOO WHERE ARE YOU? IN SPRING-TRAPPED!', a stop-motion version of the classic cartoon, mashed with a Five Nights At Freddies parody! Click the link to watch the whole film.
The DTV Throwback is  'VENDETTA', starring WWE's The Big Show and Dean Cain, and directed by the Soska Sisters! This is currently available on Amazon Prime and probably other streaming services...
Follow the Short Shots  on X (formerly Twitter) where you will find hundreds of links to awesome short films!
Don't forget to also check out our main show, the DTV DIGEST on X and FACEBOOK!