Welcome
to a new feature for CHUD’s DVD coverage, joining the regular-as-good-shit
Special Edition and our constant barrage of reviews. Each month we’ll be giving
a little spotlight coverage to new discs being released by Anchor Bay. You may have noticed the
advertisements on the right-hand bar of the main page. If you haven’t, please
spend some more time looking at the main page. Why Anchor Bay? They asked us, and we’re
incredibly affable fellows.

The
logistics of getting this new feature off the ground have resulted in a
somewhat delayed inaugural entry, unfortunately; these discs are already out in
stores, so this edition is something more like an "Anchor Bay
Backdoor." We like that, too. Read on for the highlights of February’s DVD
releases from the seafaring studio.


Pelts


BUY IT AT AMAZON: CLICK HERE!
MSRP: $14.98
RATED: NR
RUNNING TIME: 58 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Commentary w/ writer
• "All Sewn Up" effects featurette
• "Fleshing it Out" making-of featurette
• Storyboards and stills
• Dario Argento biography
• Screenplay on DVD-ROM

The
Masters of Horror series on Showtime has earned itself moderate success with
its dedication to short-form horror, and for the talent it has attracted. This
episode was directed by Suspiria mastermind Dario Argento,
and features, of all things, a preoccupation with sex, if you can believe that.
Meat Loaf "Bitch Tits" Aday plays a furrier on his path to failure,
unable to keep his business afloat, and burying his regrets in an obsession
with a certain stripper of modest proportions.

Things
begin to turn around for the Load when a small-time trapper trespasses onto the
private property of the requisite batshit insane toothless type, and traps a
number of raccoons. These ‘coons possess pelts of an extraordinary quality.
Well, two if you count both that the fur is exquisite in color and feel, and
that they tend to drive people to fits of self-abusive insanity as punishment
for lusting after them.

You can
always rely on Argento to tell a fable in horror form, not just sell you an
excuse for gore. Here he weaves twin threads about lust into one Biblical
vengeance tale. The entity seeking revenge isn’t slid into the background,
behind the bloody and brutal acts themselves. Some of the story coherence is
lost thanks to the unanchored plot points, but the gore and tension in the
scenes of self-destruction are beauty writ small.


Night of the Living Dorks


BUY IT AT AMAZON: CLICK HERE!
MSRP: $19.98
RATED: NR
RUNNING TIME: 92 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Behind-the-scenes featurette
• Deleted and extended scenes
• Alternate ending
• Fun scenes

Three
losers get the thrill of their lives in this German zombie comedy. Philip,
Konrad, and Weener slack their way through school and life until the fateful
night they witness a Satanic ritual (involving a lock of hair, a used band-aid,
a frozen chicken). On the drive home, they are tragically killed; upon arriving
at the morgue, they find they are comically doing all right. It seems the
ritual did have an effect, turning the three nerds into three zombie nerds.

What
follows is a unabashedly derivative sex-comedy, in which our protagonists just
happen to be slowly losing their humanity in favor of a unending desire for raw
flesh. Shaun of the Dead has set the bar high for anything that dares
to involve both zombies and comedy, but Mathias Dinter’s little homage to the
80s is quick on its rotting feet. The underdogs in school are always
fantasizing about a little power, a little brute strength; in Night
of the Living Dorks, they get it and haul you chuckling through the
consequences.

Devil’s Den


BUY IT AT AMAZON: CLICK HERE!
MSRP: $19.98
RATED: NR
RUNNING TIME: 84 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Feature Commentary
• "Belly of the Beast" behind-the-scenes featurette
• Screenplay on DVD-ROM
• Blooper reel

Monster
party! On their way back to the States from Mexico, Quinn (Devon Sawa) and his
friend Nick (Steven Schub) decide to pay a visit to a gentlemen’s club called
"The Devil’s Den." As it turns out, the establishment is in no danger
of being sued for false advertising, as its dark halls are populated with
Japanese kitana masters, a DiVAS-style assassin, a monster hunter, and,
eventually, some dude named Satan. Also, Ken Foree.

With a
little bit of From Dusk ‘Til Dawn and a little bit of the zaniness of other
Sawa-starring horror films (Final Destination, Idle Hands), Devil’s
Den is an entertaining collision of clichés. At times, the film makes
you feel like a rubbernecker with its high-concept melding of monsters and plot
devices, but it’s all in the name of weightless fun. Sawa continues to be a
hoot, though the ratio of action-to-dialogue scenes is a bit heavy on the
latter to balance well for some audiences. This is particularly odd since the
script was written by stunt coordinator Mitch Gould.