New out on DVD/Blu-ray this week

New out on DVD/Blu-ray for Tuesday April 2.

     John Dies at the End

It's a drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit. On the street they call it Soy Sauce, and users drift across time and dimensions. But some who come back are no longer human. Suddenly a silent otherworldly invasion is underway, and mankind needs a hero. What it gets instead is John and David, a pair of college dropouts who can barely hold down jobs. Can these two stop the oncoming horror in time to save humanity? No. No, they can't.

This crazy cult like film is a total mish-mash of genres, from horror to sci-fi fantasy to comedy. It's directed by Don Coscarelli who brought us the fun 1979 horror film Phantasm and the oddly funny Bubba Ho-Tep starring Bruce Campbell.

John Dies at the End stars Chase Williamson and Rob Mayes and it features supporting appearances by Paul Giamatti, Clancy Brown and Doug Jones.

As much as I enjoy some of these type of cult-like genre pieces I was pretty disappointed with this film. It's simply too weird and disjointed. Quite frankly the film didn't make all that much sense to me and I found most of it to be an incoherent mess that didn't really add up to all that much by the end. Coscarelli showcases the odd flash of creativity and even brilliance at times, but it is never sustained for very long and ultimately this was a frustrating film to sit through.

This may appeal to die hard fans of the novel and those that enjoy really weird stuff, but this didn't do much for me.

     The Sweeney

Tearing up the streets of London, The Sweeney proves that sometimes you have to act like a criminal to catch a criminal. Armed and dangerous, the Sweeney Flying Squad are old school crime fighters enforcing the law. Led by legendary detective Jack Regan (Ray Winstone) and his loyal partner, they have their own unique way of operating and always get results. With a bank heist in progress and his old enemy making a reappearance on the London crime scene, Regan will do whatever it takes to get the job done, even defying orders from his no-nonsense boss (Damian Lewis).

This British action thriller is based on the 70s television series of the same name. In addition to Winstone and Lewis it also stars Hayley Atwell, Ben Drew and Steven Mackintosh. The film is written by John Hodge who is noted for having worked predominantly with director Danny Boyle and writing the screenplays to Trainspotting, Shallow Grave and The Beach.

The only negative thing I can really say about this film is that it takes a while to get used to the thick Cockney accents that some of the characters speak in. It was hard to understand some of what they were saying, but I still got the gist of it and after awhile it wasn't too hard to follow. Overall though, The Sweeney is a really solid crime drama featuring some high-octane action sequences that were very well staged. There were some twists and turns throughout that kept me engaged and I thought that the performances were quite good all around.

If you enjoy action packed British crime thrillers or cops and robbers stories in general then you should check out The Sweeney.

     Hemingway and Gellhorn

A drama centered on the romance between Ernest Hemingway and WWII correspondent Martha Gellhorn, Hemingway's inspiration for his novel For Whom the Bell Tolls and the only woman who ever asked for a divorce from the writer.

This made for HBO production is directed by Philip Kaufman (The Right Stuff, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Henry & June) and features an all star cast that includes Clive Owen, Nicole Kidman, David Strathairn, Rodrigo Santoro, Molly Parker and Parker Posey.

I can not give a fair assessment of this film since I haven't actually seen the entire thing. I can say that I flipped by it several times when it was on HBO and what I did see of it looked painfully dull and boring. Nothing compelled me to want to actually sit through the whole thing.

If you are interested in WWII era romance stories then you may want to give this a look. It's certainly not my cup of tea.

Also out this week is the action thriller The Baytown Outlaws starring Billy Bob Thornton, Eva Longoria and Michael Rapaport, the campy horror about a killer zombie clown called Stitches, and the BBC TV series Dirk Gently which is based on the novels by beloved author Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy).

     Blast From the Past

Since this week's release John Dies at the End falls into the category of cult films I thought I would provide you with a list of alternate titles that many would consider to be cult classics. I could give you at least 50 titles that would be deemed worthy of that distinction but that would be too long, so here, in no particular order, are ten must see cult classics.

Harold and Maude (1971) - This oddly hilarious black comedy features one of the most bizarre romances ever in screen history. Bud Cort plays a young man obsessed with death who regularly stages elaborate fake suicides. He meets, and bonds with, Maude (Ruth Gordon), a 79-year-old woman who likes to attend funerals just for fun. The storyline is definitely strange and it won't be for everyone but I absolutely loved this quirky and touching gem of a film.

Vanishing Point (1971) - This is the film that gets referenced in Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof when the girls want to find the 1970 Dodge Challenger. Muscle car enthusiasts everywhere are likely to worship at the alter of this action road flick. Barry Newman plays an ex race car driver who bets that he can deliver a 1970 Challenger from Denver to San Francisco overnight and along the way he is pursued by cops who want to stop him for speeding. It's a pretty simple premise and not necessarily the greatest movie per se, but it does have a rabid following and boy is that car sweet.

The Evil Dead (1981) - This low budget horror film announced the arrival of one of the more creative cinematic voices of our time in Sam Raimi. It took a while to garner recognition, but once it did it secured a huge cult following and allowed Raimi to make a couple of sequels which are also cult classics. This landmark gorefest is so important in the annals of horror filmdom that it has just been recently remade in what many are calling the scariest movie in years. Bruce Campbell's Ash has become an icon in the cult film world. The Evil Dead is a ton of campy fun.

The Warriors (1979) - This cult classic directed by Walter Hill is still cool to watch. The story of gang warfare in New York might seem a bit dated by today's standards but it has memorable characters and action. Plus, who can forget the line "Waaaarriors, come out to plaaaay."  This is another film in which its appeal and regard has grown over time.

Freaks (1932) - This pre-code horror film was so controversial that Britain banned it for over 30 years. Director Tod Browning, famed for making Dracula with Bela Lugosi, used actual circus freaks in the film. He didn't want to use costumes and makeup so he cast real people with deformities as the sideshow "freaks" in order to give it more authenticity. It worked. This film is somewhat unsettling and creepy given the time in which it was made. It may not scare you but any cult film lover has to include Freaks on their must see list.

Death Race 2000 (1975) - A dystopian future where hit and run driving is the national sport is the setting for this crazy schlockfest. David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone star as competing race car drivers where the aim of the game is to score points by killing the most pedestrians. You even get bonus points for mowing down senior citizens. Featuring a ton of gratuitous violence and nudity, Death Race 2000 is the epitome of a cult film. A great pick if you want to have a cheesy movie night.

Re-Animator (1985) - This ultra-gory horror film is based on the H.P. Lovecraft story Herbert West - Reanimator and it stars Jeffrey Combs as the doctor who desperately wants to defeat death by reanimating corpses. It isn't especially scary at all but it's become a cult classic for its excessive gore and infusion of comedic moments throughout. It is quite entertaining. One of the most memorable scenes involves a topless Barbara Crampton and a decapitated body which I won't describe any further (family show). If you are in the mood for some gory fun you can't go wrong with Re-Animator.

Kiss Me Deadly (1955) - Do you remember the scene in Pulp Fiction when John Travolta opens the briefcase and it starts to glow? Did you ever wonder where the inspiration for that came from? Look no further than one of the greatest film noirs of all time in Kiss Me Deadly. Based on a Mickey Spillane novel, Ralph Meeker plays detective Mike Hammer in one of the most hard boiled and intense films of that era. He's fast talking and extra hard hitting and even ruthless at times. If you consider yourself a fan of film noir then you have to see Kiss Me Deadly. It's amazing!

A Clockwork Orange (1971) - I remember this film being considered so taboo when I was a child. I'd heard so much about it that I had to see what all the fuss was about. Stanley Kubrick's brilliant and disturbing vision of a dystopian future features Malcolm McDowell as a sociopathic delinquent who has a penchant for classical music, rape and ultra-violence. I can't hear "Singing in the Rain" anymore without thinking of the brutal scene in this movie. It generated a ton of controversy at the time of its release even garnering an X rating, but it has since amassed a huge following and has come to be regarded as an all-time classic. This isn't for everyone's tastes though.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) - No list would be complete without the ultimate cult film of all-time. The fact that this film is still being shown regularly at midnight screenings 38 years after its release is a testament to its enduring legacy and popularity. This outrageous musical comedy horror which is an homage to science fiction and horror B movies from the 50s is a film unlike any other. The way to truly experience it is to go to a fan participation screening where everyone gets dressed up as their favourite characters and re-enacts the scenes of the film as it is playing. I attended one of these once and it was a blast as audience members flung rice, toilet paper and other various objects around the theater while singing and dancing along to all of the classic tunes from the film. While not as fun to watch at home alone, The Rocky Horror Picture Show will nevertheless be considered a cult masterpiece.

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This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.