The Giant Gila Monster (and Killer Shrews) hits home video in a loaded Blu Ray DVD release 9/26

I don’t buy or get physical media much anymore. Don’t get me wrong I have thousands of titles in my collection but the fact that I am getting so much sent to me to review that I don’t go back and watch things until they’ve been on cable/streaming rotation for months or years.  That said I still pick up the odd special edition disc because I love the film and want a special edition.

When I was recently informed that -Film Master's was releasing a two disc special edition of THE GIANT GILA MONSTER that included a special edition of THE KILLER SHREWS I jumped at the chance to get my hands on the set and I wasn’t disappointed.

I have had the pairing of these two films in my head for decades. Ever since Sinister Cinema began turning out Drive in Double feature VHS tapes, the first of which was a pairing of the films. In the 40 or so years since they did that I invariably end up watching the two films together in one way or another, short of a single film airing on Svengoolie.  Such was the case  when I watched these two film I watched them together.

If you’ve never seen the films before  I should probably give you a quick over view of each.

THE GIANT GILA MONSTER is the story of a giant Gila monster that wanders across a small town causing all sorts of havoc. It all comes to head when some smart ass kids come up with a means of taking the beast out.  The monster is an actual lizard roaming around miniature sets. It’s not the best giant monster film ever made, there really isn’t any effort to integrate the beast with actual people so the effects sequences seem from a different movie. That said the film is still a lot of fun. If it wasn’t I wouldn’t have watched it the two or three hundred times I’ve seen it.

THE KILLER SHREWS is one of my favorite films of the drive-in era. It’s the story of a group of people where people go to a remote island where scientists have lost control of the giant shrews (collies in fright masks)  they have bred.  The shrews are destroying everything and killing anything alive with their poisonous bite.  Trapped in a compound the group has to figure out how to get to the boat and off the island before the shrews break in and eat them. It’s a blast and a half that is both funny for all the wrong reasons (the masks) and scary (the masks).

First thing I need  say is that Film Master‘s release presents both films in both 1:85 (theatrical) and 1:33(TV). Both films have been restored and  are look frighteningly good. Watching the film with my brother we both were shocked that these  two warhorse films were given more love than most recent films. They look great.

Having seen the films way too many times I skipped watching the films straight and instead simply focused on the extras, which meant that I watched the films with the commentary tracks. GILA has a track featuring by Larry Strothe, James Gonis, Shawn Sheridan and Matt Weinhold from The Monster Party podcast and SHREWS has Jason A. Ney​. I liked both of the commentary tracks. I’m a sucker for a good commentary track because I love to learn more about the films I love.  Having been reading on these films for years I didn’t think there were any tidbits left to learn, but the truth is there were a few mixed in with some of the stories about how the films came together and made it to the drive-in screens across America. More importantly the tracks here were just fun to listen to. I love to listen to people with a passion for film talks about smaller films and these two films have that. Listening to the commentary tracks here is like listening to a friend talk over lunch.

The other extras include a short doc called Ray Kellogg: An Unsung Master; an archival interview with star, Don Sullivan, conducted by author Bryan Senn in 2009, radio commercials and book with excellent essays on the films

This collection is an absolute delight and if you like old school drive in films this double disc set (in both Blu Ray and DVD ) is for you

The Cellist: The Legacy of Gregor Piatigorsky

Years before Elvis and his famous Sun Records label-mates were dubbed the “Million Dollar Quartet,” Gregor Piatigorsky, Arthur Rubinstein, and Jascha Heifitz were hailed as the “Million Dollar Trio,” but they recorded and played together quite regularly. Piatigorsky was the first of the trio to take his final curtain call in 1976, yet his teachings and recorded body of work influenced every celebrated cellist who followed him. Writer-director-co-producer Murray Grigor & editor-cinematographer-co-producer Hamid Shams profile the revered classical musician in The Cellist: The Legacy of Gregor Piatigorsky, which is now available on DVD.

Piatigorsky was born in Ekaterinoslav, Russia (now Dnipro, Ukraine) to a Jewish family in the year 1903—obviously an awkward time to come of age, with 1917 looming. He was working professionally at a young age, but the cellist was forced to escape Lenin’s dictatorship to study with the caliber of teachers his talent required. Despite finding success in Berlin and Paris, the National Socialist advance across Europe forced Piatigorsky and his wife to hastily immigrate to America. However, they did not have it nearly as rough as most refugees, because there were indeed advantages to be married to a Rothschild—as in the Rothschilds.

Their life in the United States was less dramatic, but enormously productive. It is rather amazing in this day-and-age to hear the overriding goal of Piatigorsky’s career was the popularization of the cello, but that just suggests how overwhelmingly he succeeded. Intriguingly, Piatigorsky and his wife also played critical roles as patrons of international chess competitions (which was very Russian of them).

Grigor & Shams take a largely conventional approach to documentary filmmaking, but they keep the pace and tone refreshingly lively. Shams also edits much of the footage together quite strikingly (including some evocative contemporary tracking shots of the sites of Piatigorsky’s historic triumphs). Plus, many of the tributes to the great cellist from his students and colleagues really are quite touching.

Any viewer with little prior interest in classical music who happens to watch The Cellist will probably be motivated to open their ears a little and start exploring the music. That surely would have pleased Piatigorsky. This is exactly the kind of film that is worth catching up with now that we all have a bit of time on our hands. Highly recommended, The Cellist is now available on DVD, from First Run Features.

EEGAH (1962) has been given a 4K restoration and it hits home video Tuesday

EEGAH (which is some times EEGAH!! and some times with the subtitle THE NAME WRITTEN IN BLOOD), the name sends chills up and down the spine of any movie lover on the planet. Good movies lovers hate it’s creaky low budget quality while bad movie lovers love it for the same reason. It is a legendary bad film that Mystery Science Theater 3000 riffed in the original run of the show and which the live version of the most recent incarnation took on the road. Now the film has been lovingly restored in 4K and put out on Blu-ray and DVD by Film Detective who has guaranteed ticket sales by including the original MST3K show plus some neat extras.

The film is the story of some a young woman and her father who run across and are kidnapped by a caveman wandering in the desert.  Instead of being frightened by him she cleans him up, shaves his beard and cuts his hair. Her "boyfriend" tries to find and rescuer and mayhem results.

The film was made by Arch Hall Sr, a man legendary in some film circles as a man of mixed talent. He produced and wrote the films under fake names. His films, which he largely produced via his own production company were all drive-in fare. They were often starred his son Arch Hall Jr, who was, given the right role better than the material. By no means are the films the Halls turned out great works of art, but all are better than the “bad” movie labels they have been saddled with in some circles. Films such as THE SADIST,  are nasty pieces of work that are much better than you would think or their mainstream reputation (assuming the mainstream writers even know about them). They have a kick that mainstream Hollywood films don’t have, which explains why the films are still being discussed while other bigger budgeted and heavily promoted films from the same period are now on histories trash heap.

As I said above normally Hall Sr only produced, wrote and acted in his films but he was forced to step in with EEGAH and take the reins and the result is an okay little film. Admittedly it isn’t the best, and seems downright awful when seen by an audience of one seated at home. However when seen in a car full of people at a drive in or in a crowded theater where the audience can be part of the fun it’s quality increases. Presently the main reason the film known is a legendary episode of  MST3K where the interplay of Joel and the bots helps the reach its maximum potential. I say this as someone who has seen the film any number of times over the years and I find it always plays best when seen with an audience or riffed.

To be completely honest I don’t know why anyone would want to restore the film with 4K restoration but it takes all kinds. Nothing against the people involved but 4K is the sort of expensive restoration that big huge Hollywood legends like LAWRENCE OF ARABIA  or BEN HUR  get, EEGAH is not in that league.  That said the transfer itself is absolutely stunning and having seen it now both as part of the live MST3K show from a couple years back and on the disc I can’t imagine the film ever looking this good even in its original run. I love that the Blu-ray includes the MST3K episode which is an absolute blast.

The Blu-ray also has a couple of great extras. The first is Joel Hodgeson talking about the film(it runs runs 7 minutes). While I am mixed on Joel’s time as host of MST3K (some episodes are great, some are okay) I have always loved listening to Joel talk about the bad films he loves. Listening to him over the years I’ve always gotten a better sense of the deep feelings of respect that allowed him to chide the films he and his fellows riffed. The other extra is Arch Hall Jr talking about the film for about fifteen minutes and is equally good.

The new restoration hits stores on November 26th and is a must for either fans of the movie or for MST3Kies who are always watching out for snakes.

Flora: High Pollen Warning

Ora Blackwood is a flexible artist. She can do nature studies in the Audubon tradition and macabre scenes worthy of Weird Tales magazine covers. That makes her a perfect protag for this period sf/horror hybrid. Get ready for some full contact botany in Sasha Louis Vukovic’s Flora, which releases today on BluRay.

In 1929, Victorin University’s best and brightest botany grad students have come to join their professor’s rain forest expedition. Unfortunately, when they arrive, they find his campsite deserted and the food-stores have been nearly all incinerated. Right from the start, they face a crisis situation, because their next supply delivery is not expected for a month. They cannot hunt or gather either, because there seems to be no animal life anywhere to be found, not even insects. There is only green-leaf flora.

Their outlook goes from bad to worse when they finally find their professor—dead, of course. Being brainy, his protégé Matsudaira Basho figures out there is some sort of poisonous super-pollen infecting the greenery. Rather inconveniently, they are more likely to die from suffocation when the pollen inevitably rises than from its toxicity, so the clock is ticking.

Whatever Vukovic’s background might be, he either researched botany with admirable thoroughness or he can fake it like a champ. There are plot points in Flora that will make even experienced genre fans stop and think: “huh, that’s interesting.” A particularly notable example would be the extended sequence involving the preparation of otherwise noxious weeds for human consumption.

There is no question Flora is an ultra-low budget film, so you have to work with it a little. This is not a high-gloss, pre-packaged cookie-cutter studio film. Unfortunately, that also means the ensemble is a little uneven. Nevertheless, the final four going into the third act are all quite strong (they would be Teresa Marie Doran, Sari Mercer, Caleb Noel, and Dan Lin).

The period setting also adds an element of exotic intrigue, plus it allows for a lively 1920’s jazz score, without sacrificing verisimilitude. This is a smart, scrappy movie that will surprise you. Yes, there are some rough edges, but it will leave reasonable viewers curious (maybe even eager) to see what Vukovic does next (presumably with a greater budget). Highly recommended for the open-minded, Flora releases today on BluRay, from Mill Creek Entertainment.

Louise by the Shore: The Elegant Animation of Jean-François Laguionie

The beaches of Normandy and Brittany are still regularly invaded by armies of tourists, who also retreat with similar clockwork precision. A seventy-something vacationer will liken herself to Robinson Crusoe when she misses the last train out of the seasonal seaside town. Yet, her months of solitude will not be such a hardship in Jean-François Laguionie’s remarkably graceful animated feature Louise by the Shore, which releases today on DVD from First Run Features.

Due to a malfunctioning clock, Louise misses the last train out of town. The town is now completely deserted and effectively cut off from the outside world by a freak storm. Despite her initial concerns, she soon finds the sea will provide sustenance and a small garden plot will nicely augment her diet. Fashioning the lifeguard stand into a makeshift hunt and using the luxury hotel’s outdoor showers, she lives rather pleasantly on the beach. She even finds companionship when she meets Pepper, a stray mutt, who sometimes has the power of speech.

Shore is a deceptively simple, but emotionally complex film about a woman of advanced years re-learning how to live in concert with nature and finally coming to terms with painful memories from her childhood. It is not about slapstick gags or catchy tunes (although Pierre Kellner’s piano compositions and Pascal Le Pennec’s orchestral score are arrestingly beautiful). Instead it is a memory play of sorts and an exploration of Madame Louise’s insecurities and unresolved issues. Plus, there is a dog you’d love to scratch behind the ears.

Laguionie is probably best known for the visually distinctive GKIDS release, The Painting, but Shore has an even more sophisticated look. Using a pastel color palate, his hand-drawn animation deliberately evokes the look of water-color painting and urbane French illustrators. It is all quite beautiful, but Laguionie’s style also potently evokes the feeling one gets from being in a familiar place at a time that completely changes its vibe, like visiting an old school yard after graduation.

Shore is a mature and refined work, but Laguionie employs quite the light touch. We are never pummeled with big melodramatic takeaways. Instead, he inspires wistful sighs and wry smiles. This is a perfect an example of animation as a high art form. Very highly recommended, Louise by the Shore is now available on DVD from First Run Features.

The Beast: Back on DVD and Out for Badal

It’s based on a stage play, but it has a bunch of explosions. When adapting his play Nanawatai for the big screen, William Mastrosimone could fully explore the horrors of war, while still focusing on the Pashto principles of sanctuary (nanawatai) and revenge (badal). Yet, the 1980s were such a rich movie decade, the resulting film was unfairly overlooked during its initial release. Fortunately, Mill Creek Entertainment just rereleased the Kevin Reynolds’ Afghanistan war drama The Beast on DVD today.

It really is a vintage Soviet tank Commander Daskal’s crew drives, thanks to the Israelis, who liberated it from their belligerent neighbors. Daskal, a.k.a. Tank Boy, would definitely not approve of the tankers who abandoned their ride, but he couldn’t fault the film’s authenticity. The grizzled tank commander has only one speed, charging full speed ahead. We see the brutality he brings to bear on a village suspected of harboring mujahedeen. However, his wanton savagery, including one prisoner crushed under the tank’s track, will drive the village’s new khan, Taj, as he tracks Daskal’s tank in hopes of badal. More ominously, the village’s freshly minted widows follow behind Taj’s men, looking for an opportunity to vent their fury.

Daskal might just give them the opportunity. Thanks to the damage done to their radio and charts, the commander takes a wrong turn into a canyon cul-de-sac. He will blame their local translator Samad, a Party member in good standing, but he and Konstantin Koverchenko, the highly-educated tank driver, know better. With their fuel and provisions running low and the mujahedeen remaining in hot pursuit, Daskal starts to exhibit Captain Queeg symptoms, except he is never indecisive. However, his greatest mistake will be leaving the almost insubordinate Koverchenko to die in the desert, after learning from Samad the proper meaning and pronunciation of nanawatai and badal.

Frankly, Koverchenko’s “hey tank boy” taunts, referring to Daskal’s childhood Stalingrad exploits should have been an 80s catch-phrase up there with “I’ll be back” and “there can be only one.” Although it shares some surface similarities with the Dolph Lungren guilty pleasure, Red Scorpion, The Beast is much deeper and classically archetypal. It also has the superior warfighting sequences, hands down. Frankly, it was probably the best film at depicting armored warfare tactics and maneuvering until Fury came along.

Jason Patric was and still is the film’s biggest star, but instead of a Hollywood star turn, he plays Koverchenko with quiet, slow-burning intensity. His work is excellent, but the instantly recognizable character actor George Dzundza is the one who really deserved award attention. He is harrowingly intense to watch as Daskal, the martinet who is starting to lose his grip, along with cherished Soviet world view. Israeli Erick Avari also gives the film tragic resonance as the bullied Samad.

To be fair, Cuban-born Steven Bauer has the commanding bearing and presence for Taj. Granted, there are fewer Afghan cast-members in The Beast than there are now Asians on Hawaii Five-O, but we should remember the country was still under Soviet occupation while the film was in production, making it difficult to recruit local talent. Instead, Reynolds largely relied on Israeli and Indian thesps, the former of whom surely enjoyed sticking it to the Russian bear.

Perhaps it was just bad timing. By the time The Beast opened in theaters, the Soviets had begun to withdraw from Afghanistan with their tails between their legs. Nevertheless, it remains a powerful portrayal of the horrors of Communist aggression and the clash of two radically dissimilar belief systems. Very highly recommended, The Beast is now available on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment.

Beyond Redemption: Vancouver Undercover

Vancouver is a clean, polite city, but it will still kill you dead enough if you are not careful. Careful went out the window for Billy Tong when he accepted an undercover assignment infiltrating “Big Brother” Yuen Chung’s gang. He is about to get caught up in a nasty rivalry, because that is how the triads roll in Bruce Fontaine’s Beyond Redemption, which releases today on DVD and BluRay, from Well Go USA.

Fortunately for Tong, Big Brother Yuan takes a bit of a shine to him, but his trusted lieutenants Jimmy and Bosco most definitely do not. Nevertheless, he will be right there in the thick of it when Yuan’s men kidnap Tiffany Long, the innocently oblivious daughter of his rival Xi Long. Evidently, Long has some kind of Macguffin he is about to sell Amir Shahlavi’s Middle Eastern organization, but Yuan wants it for his own buyer instead. They will have some key inside help from Xi Long’s trophy wife Lucinda, who is actually Yuan’s lover.

Obviously, Tong will try to keep Tiffany Long safe, without blowing his cover or getting killed himself. To further raise the stakes, he just learned his none-too patient wife is super-pregnant. The good news is he can fight.

Redemption is a film made by a former stuntman (and western “Gweilo” supporting player in Hong Kong cinema), starring working stuntmen that is likely to earn them a heck of a lot more stuntman offers. As Tong, Brian Ho has decent screen presence and massive action chops. Don Lew throws down and chews the scenery with authority as Yuan. However, if anyone breaks out as a result of Redemption, it will probably be Vicki Huang for her awesomely catty femme fatale portrayal of Mrs. Long. On the other hand, Peter Chao could become a cult fave for his Michael Wong-worthy over-the-top-and-gone turn as the skimming drug trafficker Wen Lo.

There is something pleasantly grungy about Redemption that is guaranteed to wear well. Frankly, this is the sort of film home video was invented for. It will probably not win any major awards (unless it is for its stunt work and action choreography), but if it finds its way into your library, you will watch far more often than Kramer vs. Kramer, Out of Africa, A Beautiful Mind, Spotlight, or Heaven forbid, Crash. Recommended as meat-and-potatoes for martial arts fans, Beyond Redemption is now available for home viewing, from Well Go USA.

Holiday Gift Guide ’16: Call of Heroes

This time around, action film specialist Benny Chan wears his Spaghetti Western influences/homages on his sleeve, but Sheriff Yang Kenan is cut from cloth much closer to Gary Cooper in High Noon. Yang is given a grim ultimatum: release the murderous son of ruthless warlord Cao Ying or the town of Pucheng will face the consequences. Slowly his neighbors turn against their local sheriff, but at least the high plains drifter will throw-in his lot in with Yang in Chan’s Call of Heroes, which just released on DVD and BluRay, from Well Go USA, for your holiday shopping convenience.

Dedicated schoolteacher Bai Ling (that’s her character, not the actress) leads a small group of children to sanctuary after the sadistic and entitled Cao Shaolun attacked their school in an act of terror. Following her to Pucheng, Cao kills Bai and two others before Yang captures him. Of course, he is sentenced to death, because he is guilty as sin, but representatives of the Cao forces still demand his freedom. They promise to leave the town undisturbed if they comply, but Yang knows that is a lie. So does Ma Feng, a wandering warrior who has some complicated history with Cao’s Colonel Zhang Yi. He also had some chemistry with Bai, but he realized it too late.

It might be Republican era China, but the dramatic vocabulary of Call is pure spurs-and-saddles American western. It starts at the top with Sean Lau Ching-wan, who is all about a man having to do what a man has to do. He has grit and gravitas worthy of Cooper or Alan Ladd, but he is no superman. He is flesh-and-blood, maybe even distantly approaching middle age, which makes his character so heroic yet relatable.

Eddie Peng Yu-yen continues to mature into a legit action star, showing plenty of chops, but also mixing in a comparatively light sprinkling of physical humor. In all honesty, the growth he has shown since his early teen rom-coms has been impressive. Wu Jing and Xing Yu add plenty of real deal martial arts authenticity as Zhang Yi and hired muscle Wong Wai-fu, respectively. Returning to the sort of villainous roles that actually suit him so well, Louis Koo hams it upshamelessly and goes way-the-heck-and-gone over-the-top as Cao Shaolun—and it’s a blast to watch. Yuan Quan adds some glamour and shows some decent moves of her own as Yang’s wife Chow So-so. In fact, Master Sammo Hung keeps everyone on their toes as action director, choreographing some spectacularly cinematic yet still bone-crunchingly old school martial arts sequences.

Just about every element in Call is borrowed from another film, but it is all executed at a very high level by a superstar ensemble, seen at the peak of their powers and playing to their strengths. For martial arts connoisseurs, it might not be the greatest film they have ever seen, but it is a guaranteed sure thing. Easily recommended for fans of Lau, Peng, Koo, and Hung, Call of Heroes is now available on DVD and BluRay, from Well Go USA, just in time for the holiday shopping season.

Comic Con-age: WOLF CHILDREN's Howl of Sophisticated Pleasure

Wolf Children (おおかみこどもの雨と雪/ookami kodomo no ame to yuki), the third feature length anime from director Mamoru Hosoda is a gripping and heartwarming tale of cross-generational appeal. Essentially, anything you could think of saying to distinguish a work of fiction as a classic of its genre could aptly apply. Going over my NY Comic Con itinerary, I became wary of the movie’s FUNIMATION and Hero Complex sponsored screening when I detected the strong family friendly vibe of the anime. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but after long days of navigating the crowded convention floors, one looks for the comfort of entertainment he is most naturally drawn to, and my tastes tend toward the darker, grittier assemblage of moving images. No matter. Wolf Children proved to transcend genre leanings. It revealed itself to be a multilayered work, supporting recent ripples of acknowledgment that Hosoda-san is well on his way to achieving status as a master of feature length animated films, putting his name in the same realm as one Hayao Miyazaki. Even the English dubbed version they decided to screen, which initially caught me off guard (though it really should not have been that much of a surprise considering the wide audience its releasing company must aspire to reach), did not end up hampering my enjoyment of the experience. That in itself is a huge testament to the power of the film.

WOLF CHILDREN begins wrapped in a mood of idealistic romance as high school student Hana, speaking wistfully and mature beyond her years, falls into a whirlwind courtship with a werewolf.  Their enchantment with one another supersedes the importance of fitting in with society around them (a theme that recurs tunefully throughout the film) and soon the pair are living the sort of life experienced by those who grow up too fast – raising two children in a cramped metropolitan apartment.

Despite the couple’s upbeat attitude, invigorated by a sense of freedom, the feral qualities of Hana’s mate make him not long for the world around them and soon Hana is left to care for the two were-children alone.  Her plight is easily relatable to the real life world around us, in which such supernatural creatures don’t necessarily exist: a single mother trying to take care of two very rambunctious children.  Add to this the particularly Japanese norm of valuing fitting in and not disturbing the carefully structured order of things around you, and Hana becomes a truly empathetic figure.

Here emerges another theme, that of going against the grain and forging an unfamiliar, potentially challenging path for the sake of one’s family, as Hana decides uproot her clan and move to a remote countryside. Here the children, Yuki and Ame (which mean ‘snow’ and ‘rain’ could indulge their wolf sides as they scramble about the wondrously depicted surrounding wilderness. Yet challenges of surviving this naturalistic setting abound: Primarily, yielding food from the earth and contending with savage bouts of weather. And although the rural community is portrayed as more compassionate than that of the city, it still presents a challenge for newcomers to fit in to its established ways.  In contending with these obstacles, Hana is shown to be a strong, determined female protagonist who handles her interactions with members of the new community gracefully.

Meanwhile, Yuki and Ame develop stronger individual characteristics. The older Yuki is brash, fearless and unashamedly comfortable with her wolf form. Ame, on the other hand, is a more timid, delicate younger brother. These traits follow them through to the start of their attendance at school. However, after the passing of some years, a thought provoking reversal occurs, one that speaks rather accurately to the gendered experiences of children. Yuki becomes self-conscious, determined to fit in, even if it means the suppression of her once joyously flaunted wolf form. This is especially when interactions with a boy in her grade begin to take place. At the same time, Ame, who has not grasped the same success at school as his sister, grows more and more detached from his classes. He finds himself drawn to the wilderness, much to the concern of his mother, where he pursues a connection to the animal side of his family’s history. Through these situations, school is viewed as another complex social structure with demands to fit in that are challenging, yet of critical importance.

By telling a story with simple, joyous images for children to enjoy, true-to-life situations that adolescents can relate to, and themes of fitting in and dealing with identity crises that are substantial enough for adults to wrap their minds around, WOLF CHILDREN is an assured classic. An impressive feat is the complex manner in which children grow and change, something I do not find to occur in Miyazaki films I am familiar with. This is not a point of disparagement toward Miyazaki, but rather is something I find truly fascinating about Hosoda’s latest work.

In terms of visuals, there is a unique color palette, which I also took note of in the director’s previous film Summer Wars, consisting of cool blue-ish grays and pastel colors. They are at once easy on the eye and suggestive of the more subtle shades of the films’ human subjects.

Then, there is the delightful style of animating the children’s transformation into their wolf forms. They morph quickly and with a sense of ease from human to creature forms, turning into large, roughly sketched circular shapes. Bouncing about frantically, they are immediately disarming.

WOLF CHILDREN is a film I would love for you to be able to experience on the big screen. Then again, owning the DVD and being able to show it to future generations in a warm, familiar atmosphere would also be ideal.

WOLF CHILDREN is now available on DVD and Blu-ray from FUNIMATION.

Me on twitter = @mondocurry.