Category: Crime

Anatomy of a Murder

Anatomy of a Murder on VHS. Movie starring Jimmy Stewart, George C. Scott, Ben Gazzara , Lee Remick, Arthur O’Connell, Eve Arden, Kathryn Grant. Directed by Otto Preminger. 1959.

Anatomy of a Murder VHS box cover scan

From the VHS box:

A riveting courtroom dram of rape and premeditated murder is brought to life with an all-star cast in the suspenseful and highly-acclaimed Anatomy of a Murder. Nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture (1959), the film pits humble small-town lawyer Jimmy Stewart against hardheaded big-city prosecutor George C. Scott. Emotions flare as jealous army lieutenant Ben Gazzara pleads innocent to murdering the rapist of his seductive, beautiful wife (Lee Remick). Produced and directed by the renowned Otto Preminger, the film features a brilliant score by Duke Ellington. Packed with drama, passion and intrigue, Anatomy of a Murder is a cinematic masterpiece that will keep you on the edge of your seat!

Available on Blu-ray Critereon Collection.

Bonus back cover art scan:

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Bless the Child

Bless the Child on VHS. Movie starring Kim Basinger, Jimmy Smits, Christina Ricci, Rufus Sewell, Ian Holm, Angela Bettis, Holliston Coleman. Directed by Chuck Russell. 2000.

Mankind’s Last Hope Just Turned Six.

Bless the Child VHS box cover art scan

From the VHS box:

Academy Award winner Kim Basinger stars as Maggie O’Connor, a single woman whose life revolves around her career as a nurse — until the surprise appearance of her sister Jenna and Jenna’s newborn baby girl, Cody. When Jenna suddenly disappears, Maggie is left to raise Cody, an autistic child, by herself. But after Jenna returns with a mysterious cult leader and abducts Cody, Maggie discovers that the child possesses extraordinary powers… powers that forces of evil have waited centuries to control.

Watch Bless the Child on Prime Video or upgrade you collection with a Blu-ray.

Bonus back cover art scan:

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Police Academy: Mission To Moscow

Police Academy: Mission To Moscow on VHS. Movie starring George Gaynes, Michael Winslow, David Graf, Leslie Easterbrook, Claire Forlani, Ron Perlman, Christopher Lee, Charlie Schlatter, G.W. Bailey. Directed by Alan Metter. 1994.

Police Academy: Mission To Moscow on VHS. Movie starring George Gaynes, Michael Winslow, David Graf, Leslie Easterbrook, Claire Forlani, Ron Perlman, Christopher Lee, Charlie Schlatter, G.W. Bailey. Directed by Alan Metter. 1994.

From the VHS box cover:

Just when we thought the Cold War was over, leave it to these guys to heat it up again.

Alan Metter directs and a welcome ensemble again puts on departmental blues for all-new comedy antics. This time, addle-brained Cmdt. Lassard, motor-mouthed Jones, gun-fanatic Tackleberry, curvaceous Callahan and human steam vent Capt. Harris are called into action against the Godfather of the Russian Mafia. The imperious Don aims to tap into worldwide databases with a secret computer program he’s developed. But leave it to the Academyites to turn it into a case of arrested development!

Kicking buttski!
Making you laughski!
The Academy is backski!


Available on DVD:

Police Academy 7


The Public Eye

The Public Eye movie VHS box cover scan. Movie starring Joe Pesci and Barbara Hershey. With Richard Riehle, Stanley Tucci, Jerry Adler, Jared Harris. Directed by Howard Franklin. 1992.

The Public Eye on VHS video. Movie starring Joe Pesci and Barbara Hershey. With Richard Riehle, Stanley Tucci, Jerry Adler, Jared Harris. Directed by Howard Franklin. 1992.

Murder. Scandal. Crime. No matter what he was hooting, “The Great Bernzini” never took sides, he only took pictures… Except one.

Academy Award winner Joe Pesci is a brash, 1940’s tabloid photographer whose camera leads him into a shadowy underworld of mob violence, unlikely romance and dangerous corruption in this atmospheric mystery-thriller.

New York, 1942. Prowling the crime-ridden, midnight streets of the city, freelance shutterbug Leon “Bernzy” Bernstein (Pesci) captures life’s seamy side in his lens — and dreams of the day his pictures will be recognized as works of art. Then, ravishing nightclub owner Kay Levitz (Barbara Hershey) lures Bernzy into investigating the thugs trying to muscle in on her business. Before he knows it, he falls for the unattainable Kay — and plunges camera first into a treacherous realm of black market scams and mafia gang war. Now, Bernzy’s either going to take the fall or take the one-in-a-million shot that could change his life forever.



Deadlock

Deadlock aka Dead Lock aka Wedlock on VHS video. Starring Rutger Hauer, Mimi Rogers, Joan Chen. Directed by Lewis Teague. 1991.

Deadlock aka Dead Lock aka Wedlock on VHS video. Starring Rutger Hauer, Mimi Rogers, Joan Chen. Directed by Lewis Teague. 1991.

From the VHS box cover:

In the prison of the future, criminal justice will have a deadly twist. No bars. No walls. No chance of escape…

…Until Now.

After hiding 25 million dollars’ worth of diamonds, jewel thief Frank Warren is double-crossed by both his best friend and his fiancee, and placed in an experimental maximum security prison.

At Camp Holiday, each prisoner is fitted with an explosive-filled “wedlock collar” that’s electronically linked to the collar of another prisoner. If the two wedlock partners are separated by more than 100 yards, both of their collars will explode. Since prisoners are not told the identity of their wedlock partners, escape is seemingly impossible.

When a woman named Ivory claims to be Frank’s wedlock partner, he’s skeptical…until she orchestrates their escape, heads still intact.

In a deadly game of hide and seek the two unwilling partners are relentlessly pursued by the authorities and cruelly hunted by Frank’s murderous associates. It’s a race against time… to get the diamonds, save their lives, and break out of wedlock.

Deadlock is a high-tech futuristic thriller, bristling with suspense and non-stop action.

DVD upgrade: Wedlock



Shakedown

Shakedown on VHS. Starring Peter Weller, Sam Elliott, Patricia Charbonneau, Blanche Baker, Antonio Fargas. Directed by James Glickenhaus. 1988.

Shakedown on VHS. Starring Peter Weller, Sam Elliott, Patricia Charbonneau, Blanche Baker, Antonio Fargas. Directed by James Glickenhaus. 1988.

From the VHS box cover:

An over-worked lawyer. An undercover cop. In a city where everyone is for sale… They’re the best that money can’t buy.

Whatever you do… don’t call the cops.

A burned-out legal aid attorney reluctantly teams up with a renegade police detective to find the truth behind the fatal shooting of an undercover cop by a notorious drug dealer.

Targeted by a syndicate of corrupt cops and drug lords, the duo blast their way through the underbelly on New York in their unrelenting search for the shocking truth behind the crime. Filmed on the streets on Manhattan, Shakedown features some of the most incredible stunt work and chase sequences ever shot, including a death-defying fight scene atop Coney Island’s Cyclone roller coaster. It’s nonstop thrills from start to finish in one of the most entertaining high-speed cop films ever made.

DVD upgrade: Shakedown

Watch now: Shakedown (1988) Amazon Instant Video



The Razor: The Snare

The Razor: The Snare on VHS. Starring Katsu Shintaro (Zatoichi), Sato Kei, Nishimura Akira, Kurosawa Toshio, Ineno Kazuko. Directed by Masamura Yasuzo. 1973.

The Razor: The Snare on VHS. Starring Katsu Shintaro, Sato Kei, Nishimura Akira, Kurosawa Toshio, Ineno Kazuko. Directed by Masamura Yasuzo. 1973.

From the VHS box cover:

Hanzo “Razor” Itami is an unusual cop with unusual skills, not the least of which is his uncanny ability to ferret out criminals using his “unique” interrogation methods on female prisoners.

While investigating the death of a girl during an illegal abortion, Hanzo sniffs out an orgy of wealthy perverts at a convent run by a priestess named Nyokaini. After the priestess is introduced to “THE LONGEST ARM OF THE LAW” she rats out Lord Okubo, the Shogunate Treasurer, who is minting debased coinage (and keeping the “extra” for himself). Okubo is also behind most of the prostitution in Edo. Meanwhile, Hanzo learns of a planned raid on the mint by a gang of cutthroats and sets up “house” with the beautiful widow (Riki) who runs the mint.

In a blazing bloodbath of slaughter, the “Razor” foils the raid and arrests the survivors. Lord Okubo offers a reward and Hanzo names it… [spoilers]

DVD upgrade: Hanzo The Snare

Alien Nation

Alien Nation on VHS video. Starring James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, Terence Stamp. Directed by Graham Baker. 1988.

Alien Nation on VHS video. Starring James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, Terence Stamp. Directed by Graham Baker. 1988.

From the VHS cover:

Prepare Yourself

They have come to Earth to live among us. But there’s something about them we don’t know. Be prepared.

Drugs. Violence. Crime. The headlines of the near future are a lot like today’s — with one big difference. In L.A. alone, there are 300,000 humanoid extraterrestrials. “Newcomers” or, less politely, “slags.” Refugees from a disabled slave ship, they’ve stayed to live and work among us, to try to fit in. But there is something about them we do not know.
James Caan is Sykes, a veteran police detective out to avenge the death of his partner who was killed in a shootout with Newcomers. Many Patinkin is Sam Francisco, Sykes’ new partner and the force’s first Newcomer plainslothesman. Together they uncover a trail of murder leading to the most terrifying drug epidemic to ever hit Planet Earth.

DVD upgrade: Alien Nation

The TV series: Alien Nation – The Complete Series

Life after television: Alien Nation – Ultimate Movie Collection




Manhunter

Manhunter on VHS video. Starring William Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Dennis Farina, Tom Noonan, Stephen Lang. Based on the book Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. Directed by Michael Mann. 1986.

Manhunter on VHS video. Starring William Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Dennis Farina, Tom Noonan, Stephen Lang. Based on the book Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. Directed by Michael Mann. 1986.

From the VHS box cover:

Enter the mind of a killer… you might never return.

“It’s just you and me now, sport.”

He knows how to kill you. And how to get away with it. How to silence the family pet, how to break into your house, where and when you sleep. He’s cool. Cunning. Determined. He is also your only hope. Because he’s the detective tracking down an elusive serial killer who strikes when the moon is full.

William L. Petersen stars as Manhunter Will Graham. Graham has an uncanny knack for getting inside the head of his deranged quarry. That’s great for crimefighting. But is it good for Graham? The line between thinking like the killer and being the killer can be a narrow one.

“It’s the best detective story I ever came across,” says screenwriter/director Michael Mann about Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon, the novel from which Manhunter was adapted. Mann should know a can’t-miss police thriller when he sees one; he’s the executive producer of Miami Vice and Crime Story. And the Miami Vice style he originated — electrifying visuals, a pulsing soundtrack, music video-inspired editing — is the perfect match for this sleek, frightening film.

Read Hannibal Lecter Book 1: Red Dragon

DVD upgrade: Manhunter (Limited Edition)


Original Gangstas

Original Gangstas on VHS. Starring Fred Williamson, Jim Brown, Pam Grier. With Paul Winfield, Isabel Sanford, Ron O'Neal, Richard Roundtree, Christopher B. Duncan, Dru Down, Shyheim Franklin. Directed by Larry Cohen, Fred Williamson. 1996.

Original Gangstas on VHS. Starring Fred Williamson, Jim Brown, Pam Grier. With Paul Winfield, Isabel Sanford, Ron O’Neal, Richard Roundtree, Christopher B. Duncan, Dru Down, Shyheim Franklin. Directed by Larry Cohen, Fred Williamson. 1996.

From the VHS box:

It’s time for some respect.

It’s one reunion you don’t want to miss. The top stars of ’70s Black Action films — Fred Williamson, Jim Brown, Pam Grier, Richard Roundtree and Ron O’Neal — take on the hottest new stars on the ’90s as explosive action rips the mean streets of Gary, Indiana. Thirty years ago five friends formed a street gang, the Rebels. But the Rebels — and the rules — have changed. Instead of rocks and bottles, today the gang uses automatic weapons. Now one drive-by killing too many has reunited the original Rebels. But it’s going to take the support of the entire community and one final showdown to reclaim the streets and show today’s Rebels who the real “Original Gangstas” are.

Co-starring Paul Winfield, Isabel Sanford, Christopher B. Duncan and rappers Dru Down, Shyheim, “Original Gangstas” features the year’s hottest rap/R&B soundtrack with music by Luniz, Ice-T, MC REN, the Geto Boys and more.

DVD upgrade: Original Gangstas