The DTV Digest

Episode 103 - Colour Out of Space, The Iron Mask, Sea Fever, Kung Fu vz Zombies, The Forbidden Kingdom

With the extra help of Tom Jolliffe, Mike and Rich manage to tackle 3 main feature reviews this week! First up is the adaptation of H.P.Lovecraft's COLOUR OUT OF SPACE, starring Nicolas Cage and directed by Richard Stanley. This film garnered a lot of praise while on the festival circuit but how do we rate it? Take a listen!
We also take a look at THE IRON MASK - how could we not? It has Arnie and Jackie all over the cover! Of course they are there for an extended cameo only, but how does the rest of the film hold up?
Then there is SEA FEVER, a down-to-earth creature feature from Ireland, which features both Dougray Scott and Connie Nielsen.
Our Short Shot this week is basically an experiment in Green Screen on a low budget - with KUNG FU vs ZOMBIES, Eric Jacobous schools us on what can be achieved for a few hundred dollars! Watch the end credits to get a brief glimpse behind the scenes.
And finally our DTV Throwback is THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM (aka VIY) (available on Amazon Prime) and is actually the precursor to THE IRON MASK. I wonder how the two compare?
 

Episode 102 - The Village in the Woods, Bloodline, Greenlight, The Code, The Sweeper

In this episode, Mike and Rich review 3 main features. First up is the low budget, atmospheric THE VILLAGE IN THE WOODS, in which a pair of confidence tricksters get in over their head....next up is BLOODLINE, starring Sean William Scott as a school counselor indulging in extra-curricular activities - you can find this one on Netfilx. Then there is GREENLIGHT a dark thriller set in and around a film production.
The Short Shot this week is the WW2-set THE CODE and our DTV Throwback is THE SWEEPER, starring C. Thomas Howell and comes from the infamous PM Entertainment studio. Their films invariably went to DTV and were packed full of car chases, explosions and amazing stunt set-pieces, and The Sweeper is a great example of their work and you can find it on Amazon Prime!
Check it out!

Episode 101 - APPARITION, NO PLAN NO GAIN, FIRESTORM

In this episode Mike, Rich and Will take a look at the spooky APPARITION, in which someone develops a APP (geddit?) to communicate with the dead. Our Short Shot is another film by director Godfrey Ryckewaert, NO PLAN NO GAIN - please also check out the BEHIND THE SCENES which shows how they managed the awesome stunts in that! Finally our DTV Throwback is FIRESTORM, the movie which really should have launched the action career of Howie Long. Check it out, let us know what you think!

Episode 100 - VFW, Rogue Warfare, Kenobi, D-Tox

We made it to 100 episodes! Yay Us!!
To celebrate, Mike, Rich and Will managed to get together and record not just one, but three episodes back to back which will be coming out over the next few weeks.
 
In this particular episode, we were lucky enough to coincide with the release of V.F.W., the latest film from horror auteur Joe Begos (Almost Human, Bliss). His latest film riffs off the classic Rio Bravo plot epitomised in so many of John Cartpenter's films - the Siege movie! Listen to our review and find out why you need to track down this film.
We balance that out with ROGUE WARFARE, the first part of a trilogy of films which act like a low budget Call of Duty. 
Our Short shot is likely to be a crowd please - check out our review of KENOBI but equally watch the movie!
Finally, in our DTV Throwback, we look at Sylvester Stallone in a 90's Se7en-esque thriller, DTOX.

Episode 099 - In Search of the Last Action Heroes - Mom Fight - Soldier

This episode sees Mike and Rich tackle a documentary about the action genre - IN SEARCH OF THE LAST ACTION HEROES, a very good chronicle about how it developed during the 80's and the VHS era.
 
Next up is the Short Shot, MOMFIGHT, in which two mothers fight over the last remaining action figure in the toy store.
Finally we take a look at Kurt Russell in the awesome SOLDIER, at the time the most expensive movie to wind up Direct To Video!
Tune in to hear what we think about all of this!

Episode 098 - Prey, Skywatch, D-War: Dragon Wars

This week Mike and Rich hunt down the long-awaited Netherlands creature feature, PREY (aka Prooi). Does it stand up to the anticipation built upon seeing the original trailer over a year ago? Take a listen to our review!
Our Short Shot this week is SKYWATCH, a film who's tech macguffin is so good and so prescient, I'm certain we'll be seeing a real-life counterpart in our future. This film contains a big star cameo, and its worth watching the follow-up film which shows how the director went about nabbing him.
Our DTV Throwback is D-WAR: DRAGON WARS, the Korean big budget special fx movie that co-stars Robert Forster. As tends to happen with this section, this is a film I hadn't seen (although was aware of it) - so how does it hold up? Tune in to find out!!!

Episode 097 - Giant Killer Ants - What Did Jack Do? - Demon Wind

This week we welcome back Will Bentley, sitting in for Rich, as we cover the heavy metal creature feature, GIANT KILLER ANTS - don't let the unimaginative title put you off, listen to our review! We also cover David Lynch's WHAT DID JACK DO? in our Short Shot and wind up with the obscure DTV Throwback that is DEMON WIND. Hope you enjoy!

Episode 096 - Sword of God, The Gunslinger, Kill Ratio

In this week's episode, Mike and Rich take a look at the art-house medieval thriller, SWORD OF GOD, a Polish film about two knights intent on converting an island of savages to Christianity - albeit by very different means. Our Short Shot is THE GUNSLINGER, western pastiche about a young woman entering a town to show off her quick-draw! And our DTV Throwback is KILL RATIO, directed by Paul Tanter, who also made the awful (imho) Downing Street Seige and the brilliant Once Upon a Time at Christmas. Which camp will Kill Ratio fall into? Take a listen and find out!
 
 

Episode 095 - Invasion Planet Earth, Kill Mode, Booms and Blades, Crackerjack

This week, Mike and Rich tackle a couple of sci-fi movies. First up is INVASION PLANET EARTH, which takes the Independence Day premise and it delivers a very British take on the genre and on a much smaller budget! Then we have KILL MODE, from the Netherlands, who it turns out are not lacking in a bit of spectacle.
Our short shot this week is BOOMS and BLADES by Godefroy Ryckewaert - if you like what you see, be sure to check out his many other shorts.
Finally in our DTV THROWBACK section we take a look at CRACKERJACK, starring Thomas Ian Griffith and Christopher Plummer. Although I'd enjoyed some of Griffith's other films, I'd never seen this one - take a listen to hear what I thought of this "Die Hard in a Ski Resort"!
Enjoy the show!
PS - Kill Mode, it turns out, is a prequel to an earlier film called MOLLY (2017)- if this ever becomes available in the UK we'd love to check it out!

Episode 094 - 6 Underground, Metal Beast

We're sure a lot of you will have already seen Michael Bay's 6 UNDERGROUND by now, as its just sitting there on NETFLIX waiting to be watched. Take a listen and find out what we thought of it!
Our Short Shot this week is PIZZA TiME, co-starring Eric Jacobus (Rope-a-Dope, Blindsided). and out DTV Throwback it a very entertaining werewolf movie, PROJECT METAL BEAST.
 
Check it out, let us know what you think on Facebook and Twitter (@TheDTVDigest)