STACK #166 Aug 2018

DVD & BD REVIEWS

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THE DEATH OF STALIN

THE MIDNIGHT MAN

LIFE OF THE PARTY

BOAR

Release Date: 01/08/18 Format:

Release Date: 01/08/18 Format:

Release Date: 15/08/18 Format:

Release Date: 15/08/18 Format:

Politics and farce are often indistinguishable. Armando

A diabolical game unleashes its players' worst fears and conjures the sinister boogeyman of the title. And you thought Jumanji was dangerous! The rules warn that you must never fall asleep or change position while playing, and a protective circle of salt is also recommended. Needless to say, the teens playing in a creepy dark attic pretty much ignore them – and the Midnight Man doesn't like to lose. Horror luminaries Robert Englund ( A Nightmare on Elm St ) and Lin Shaye ( Insidious ) add spice to this effective but by the numbers jump-scarefest. AC

From the unfairly maligned Ghostbusters reboot to the fairly maligned The Boss , Melissa McCarthy has had her cinematic ups and downs. Now she channels Rodney Dangerfield by going back to school. After being dumped by her hubby, Deanna Myles (MM) heads back to college – the very same one her daughter has just enrolled in! Initially clueless on campus, she's quickly initiated into a sorority and has a fling with a frat boy. Expect plenty of fish-out-of-water hijinks and mother/daughter bonding, with McCarthy's sharp humour getting this particular party started. AF

Aussie director Chris Sun's Charlie's Farm was a grisly take on backwoods horror. His follow-up feature takes its cues from '80s Ozploitation classic Razorback and brings home the bacon with a monster hog unleashed in the outback. Providing plum roles to John Jarratt (this time cast as a good guy), Nathan Jones, Hugh Sheridan and Simone Buchanan, this local creature feature also boasts plenty of tongue-in-cheek humour and some impressive practical effects. With the aforementioned Razorback hitting Blu-ray this month, horror fans can pig out with a double feature. AC

Iannucci, creator of TV series Veep and The Thick of It , is a specialist in skewering governmental dysfunction, and his take on the demise of Soviet despot Joseph Stalin in 1953 is certainly bold, and often brilliant. Finding humour in such dark subject matter might sound unlikely, but with a French graphic novel as the source, Iannucci constructs a wonderfully deadpan insight into the panic and power struggle that ensues following Stalin’s sudden death. Never making light of this brutal regime, the film turns a tricky premise into a biting political and historical satire. SH

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MAY 2018

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