Whether you're looking for a bawdy '80s farce or a hard-boiled film noir, it seems that Olive Films has a little something for all tastes. In the last few years, the boutique label has made a name for itself among movie buffs by releasing everything from cult classics to acclaimed Academy Award winners. Each new month is a cinephile's dream, a grab bag with all manner of titles, most of which are making their Blu-ray debuts. Olive's September batch is no exception, offering fans a selection of blaxploitation hits, modern thrillers, and biopics alike. I recently had the privilege of sampling four of the label's latest releases, two of which were first-time viewings, while I revisited the others for the first time in many years.

FATAL INSTINCT (1993). When you're a cop/lawyer like Ned Ravine (Armand Assante), life is never dull. A career of defending the very crooks he's arrested has earned him countless enemies, from slinky seductress Lola Cain (Sean Young) to bloodthirsty killer Max Shady (James Remar). Little does Ned know that even his own wife (Kate Nelligan) is plotting his demise, although this is one plot that our tough-talking hero's cluelessness just might save him from. Fatal Instinct came about at a time when the spoof hadn't been irredeemably sullied by those more concerned with rattling off "timely" pop culture references than with calling upon a semblance of wit. Not that this flick (directed by the legendary Carl Reiner) is any bastion of dignity, but to see its silliness counteracted by a cast and overall look that feel like they belong in the kind of thrillers being lampooned here makes a world of difference. Everything from classics like Double Indemnity to then-contemporary hits like Sleeping with the Enemy are given the goofball treatment, and for all of the shenanigans that ensue, the movie maintains a strange respect for its targets. Almost all of the actors play their roles absolutely straight (Assante's deadpan act is comedy gold), and the mishmash of subplots that sees half of the ensemble trying to bump off the other is no less overly complicated than what's featured in traditional potboilers. With its abundance of corny puns and "PG-13" sex gags, Fatal Instinct won't be confused with cutting-edge satire, but there's a gleeful insanity at work that makes it a lot more palatable than anything bearing Friedberg and Seltzer's cynical mark.

THE INVISIBLE MONSTER (1950). The unthinkable has come to pass. A criminal mastermind known as the Phantom Ruler (Stanley Price) has created a chemical that can render objects invisible when exposed to a certain light. This diabolical fiend has shanghaiied foreign scientists to help him form the ultimate covert army, but fear not, Mr. and Mrs. America! Intrepid insurance agent Lane Carson (Richard Webb) and his assistant Carol Richards (Aline Towne) are on the Phantom's trail, working around the clock to stop his schemes from coming to fruition. The Invisible Monster was a twelve-part serial originally released by the fine folks of Republic Pictures, and as such, its storytelling isn't what you'd call efficient. The obligatory cliffhanger endings are in full effect here, as are those scenes showing our heroes conveniently escaping peril at the top of each new episode. Stuff like that doesn't bother me so much, but The Invisible Monster simply doesn't have enough plot to stretch across its dozen installments, and that's another matter indeed. Momentum here is basically nonexistent, with the narrative never really expanding upon the mystery of what the Phantom is up to or making it seem like Lane's investigation is getting him anywhere. From the Phantom's objectives to his own identity, we the viewers are told everything from the get-go, leaving us to watch our bland hero continually swat his foe's hands away from stealing another source of funding with increasing disinterest. The Invisible Monster's cheery cheesiness can be charming sometimes, but after a while, you queue up the next chapter more out of a sense of obligation than a genuine desire to see this tale unfold.

THE MOD SQUAD (1999). They can get into places that normal cops can't. Pimps, drug dealers, and criminal scum alike never see them coming. They're Julie (Claire Danes), Linc (Omar Epps), and Pete (Giovanni Ribisi), troubled kids given a chance to clean up their rap sheets by acting as undercover agents for the police. But when their handler (Dennis Farina) turns up dead, the three have only each other to depend on as they face down a conspiracy that threatens to claim their lives next. The Mod Squad ranks among the least illustrious TV-to-movie adaptations of the '90s, and considering its company includes My Favorite Martian and Sgt. Bilko, that's saying a lot. This paint-by-numbers cop drama does away with the counterculture concepts for which the show it's based on was hailed, replacing them with the disaffected, "whatever" malaise that unfortunately typified most of the decade that birthed Tamagotchis. Because our protagonists have been outfitted with tired tropes where their personalities ought to be, the rebelliousness meant to define them is almost completely lacking in passion. Nobody in The Mod Squad seems cool; they look bored out of their skulls, and with the story as derivative and ploddingly-paced as it is, you can't blame the cast for feeling that way. Danes, Epps, and Ribisi are all perfectly suited for their roles, but thanks to a script that's as apathetic towards building up characters as with just having fun, their performances all suffer in the end. While it may think it's being edgy and too cool for school, The Mod Squad is little more than a lazy thriller trying to coast on the reputation of a series with more genuine attitude than it'll ever know.

THE WOODS (2006). How do you solve a problem like Heather Fasulo (Agnes Bruckner)? After the fiery teen nearly sets her own home ablaze in 1960s New England, her folks settle on Falburn Academy as their solution. An all-girls school set deep in the wilderness, Falburn's approach to discipline appears to be the perfect way to tame a restless spirit like Heather's. However, this is no average institution, for it's hiding a supernatural secret in the nearby forest that wants to use its newest student to further its own deadly goals. I was one of many horror fans eagerly awaiting the release of director Lucky McKee's The Woods back in 2006. With McKee coming off of the cult hit May and one of the gnarliest episodes of Showtime's "Masters of Horror" series, hopes were high for this flick, which largely trades the filmmaker's heightened and campy sensibilities for something more subtle. Just from a visual standpoint, the picture works like gangbusters, with its strong autumn color scheme virtually filling your immediate vicinity with the scent of fallen leaves. However, the story and its mythology are on the fairly muddled side, for there's no clear reason given as to why Heather is so important to the forces that prey upon her, whether or not she's always possessed the special abilities she comes to display, and so on. There's little oomph to our heroine's journey, and it isn't long before McKee's efforts to spice things up with the occasional gonzo flourish backfire and start undoing all the work of the slow-burn mood he obviously wants to succeed. Gorgeously-photographed and well-acted though it may be, The Woods is neither as quietly unsettling or darkly amusing as it aims to be.

(Fatal Instinct, The Invisible Monster, The Mod Squad, and The Woods are available on Blu-ray from Olive Films.)