An American Werewolf in London: Full Moon Edition (Blu-ray) and Special Edition (DVD). Feature-rich digitally remastered, 5.1 DTS-HD audio release for John Landis's landmark 1981 horror comedy. Extras include "Beware The Moon", a new 97-minute documentary, well-received at Frightfest a couple of weeks ago; "I Walked With A Werewolf" a new eight-minute Rick Baker interview on his love of monster movies and his work on The Wolfman (2010); "Making An American Werewolf in London" a five-minute featurette seen on earlier DVD releases, as were the following: an 18-minute "Interview with John Landis"; a Rick Baker featurette; "Casting of the Hand", on creating David Naughton's hand make-up; outtakes; storyboards; photograph montage; feature commentary with actors David Naughton and Griffin Dunne. Also includes a $5 Halloween candy coupon. (Blu-ray and DVD)
Army of Darkness: Screwhead Edition (1992). Umpteenth re-release for Sam Raimi's second Evil Dead sequel, but the first on Blu-ray. AoD has always had its detractors, but it's one of my personal favorites thanks to its over-the-top one liners ("Hail to the king, baby."), and campy tributes to Ray Harryhausen, the Three Stooges, and The Day the Earth Stood Still. The transfer is a marked improvement, even over the HD version (if a little over-sharpened), but the extras present nothing new, and include commentary with Raimi, star Bruce Campbell, and co-writer Ivan Raimi; deleted scenes; the alternate apocalyptic ending (which I seem to be alone in preferring); additional footage; a "Men Behind the Army" featurette; and a trailer. The Blu-ray release also includes additional production photos via Universal's U-Control mode (nothing of note here). One note: I hate to be churlish, but shouldn't that sub-title be "Primitive Screwhead Edition"? (Blu-ray and DVD)
Universal Horror: Classic Movie Archive: The Black Cat (1941), Man Made Monster (1941), Horror Island (1941), Night Monster (1942), Captive Wild Woman (1943). Previously available only as a Best Buy Exclusive, this box set features a mixed bunch of Universal features from the early 40s. The Black Cat has nothing to do with the 1934 Karloff/Lugosi classic, or Edgar Allan Poe, but is a tired old dark house comedy-thriller of the sort then recently re-popularized by Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard with The Cat and the Canary (1939), and The Ghost Breakers (1940). Broderick Crawford and Hugh Herbert star, investigating the murder of a wealthy widow, and proceedings are enlivened by the appearances of Basil Rathbone, Bela Lugosi, Gale Sondergaard and Alan Ladd (who became a star the following year, in This Gun for Hire). Man Made Monster (UK title: The Electric Man) stars Lon Chaney Jr as 'Dynamo' Dan McCormick, transformed by Lionel Atwill's Dr Rigas into the titular amped-up assassin. Originally planned as a 1935 vehicle for Karloff and Lugosi, this is good fun, and launched Chaney Jr's horror career. Horror Island is, like Man Made Monster, directed by George Waggner, whose best film is The Wolf Man (1941), unfortunately this is a disappointing comedy thriller, lacking star power, that was produced in just 23 days as the supporting feature to Man Made Monster. Night Monster (UK title: House of Mystery) on the other hand, has Lugosi and Atwill (albeit in minor roles), and is expertly directed by Flash Gordon helmer Ford Beebe. Captive Wild Woman is the star of this bunch, directed by Edward Dmytryk, who went on to helm the classics Murder, My Sweet (1944) and The Caine Mutiny (1954), despite being hauled up as one of the Hollywood 10. Captive stars John Carradine as Dr Sigmund Walters, determined to turn a gorilla into sultry Acquanetta (an Arapaho Indian, marketed as the "Venezuelan Volcano") with injections of of sex hormones and a brain transplant. Unfortunately jealousy rears its head with unfortunate, if expected, consequences. There were two weak sequels, Jungle Woman and Jungle Captive (both 1944), not included here. (DVD, released on September 13th)
Blue Demon Destructor de Espías (Blue Demon, Destroyer of Spies, 1968)/Pasaporte a la Muerte (Passport to Death, 1968) A pair of luchador films from Lionsgate, starring Blue Demon (Alejandro Muñoz Moreno) who was groomed as a movie competitor/replacement for his old foe El Santo (Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta) by producer Enrique Vergara. In Destructor de Espías he takes on a criminal organization attempting to poison the world with a lethal gas. In Pasaporte, a mad scientist creates a mind-control machine, and only our hero can save the day. The Mexican wrestling films are generally most fun when the luchadores are pitted against traditional monsters (as in Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and the Wolfman/Santo y Blue Demon contra Drácula y el Hombre Lobo, 1973), but this disc is well worth $7.98, when purchased direct from the lionsogateshop.com, which also has a few other Santo and Blue Demon titles. (DVD)
Child's Play (1988) Blu-ray release for Tom Holland's killer doll opus, which is nowhere near as good as you remember. Chris Sarandon and Catherine Hicks star, with Brad Dourif as the voice of Chucky. Extras include two commentaries, one with actors Hicks, Sarandon, and Alex Vincent, the other with screenwriter Don Mancini, and producer David Kirshner; scene specific Chucky Commentary, with Brad Dourif in character; "Evil Comes in Small Packages" making of featurette; "Chucky: Building a Nightmare", a featurette on the construction of the doll; "A Monster Convention" featurette with actors answering fan questions; "Introducing Chucky: The Making of Child's Play" vintage featurette; and a photo gallery. (Blu-ray)
Deep Impact (1998) Mimi Leder's more humanist take on the killer asteroid sub-genre was squashed by the same year's Armageddon, but remembered fondly by enough people to make the high-def release a reality. From a script by Bruce Joel Rubin (The Time Traveler's Wife) and Michael Tolkin (The Player), starring: Morgan Freeman, Tea Leoni, Elijah Wood, Robert Duvall, Vanessa Redgrave, Maximillian Schell, James Cromwell, Jon Favreau, Mary McCormack, and Leelee Sobieski. Extras include commentary by Leder and special effects supervisor Scott Farrar; four featurettes, a photo gallery; and trailers. (Blu-ray)
Destination: Outer Space; and Destination Earth: Alien Invaders. Two releases, with each disc containing 50 Science Fiction trailers and featurettes (DVD)
Friday the 13th, Part VII: The New Blood, Deluxe Edition (1988) Or (as it's known by fans) Jason vs. Carrie, the one where Jason takes on a telekinetic teen. Extras include commentary with director John Carl Buechler and actors Lar Park Lincoln and Kane Hodder; "Jason's Destroyer: The Making of Friday the 13th, Part VII: The New Blood"; "Slashed Scenes"; "Mind Over Matter: The Truth about Telekinesis"; and "Makeover by Maddy: Need a Little Touch-Up Work, My Ass". (DVD)
Friday the 13th, Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, Deluxe Edition (1998) Voted by Entertainment Weekly as the eighth worst sequel ever made, Paramount gave up on the franchise after this, and sold it to New Line. Extras include commentary with director Rob Hedden and actors Scott Reeves, Jensen Daggett and Kane Hodder; "New York Has A New Problem: The Making of Friday The 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan" featurette; a gag reel; and "Slashed Scenes". (DVD)
The Hannibal Lecter Anthology: Manhunter (1986), Silence of the Lambs (1991), Hannibal (2001). Good selection of the three best Hannibal Lecter (or Lektor, as he's called in Manhunter) films, rightly ignoring the Manhunter remake, Red Dragon (2002), and the truly awful Hannibal Rising (2007). (Blu-ray)
It's Alive Collection: It's Alive (1974); It Lives Again (1978); It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987) Larry Cohen oversaw the DVD transfers for his monster baby trilogy (the perfect companion to this weeks release of Grace), and provides commentary for each film. The only other extras provided are trailers (the It's Alive trailer negative apparently had to be purchased by Cohen from a collector), and the sound is the original mono, but this is worth it for the Cohen commentaries alone. The 2008 remake, directed by Josef Rusnak (The Thirteenth Floor) is released to DVD on October 6th. (DVD)
John Carpenter, Master of Fear: The Thing (1982), Prince of Darkness (1987), They Live (1988), and Village of the Damned (1995) Three of Carpenter's most enjoyable films, and Village of the Damned. No extras, but a good price at $14.99 from amazon.com. (DVD)
King Kong vs. Godzilla/Kingu Kongu Tai Gojira (1962/3) and King Kong Escapes/Kingu Kongu no Gyakushū (King Kong Counterattack) (1967) With Ishirō Honda in the director's chair, and Eiji Tsuburaya handling the effects, these are two enjoyable Toho kaiju eiga. By the time of King Kong Escapes, the series had become extremely juvenile – the film was co-produced with Rankin-Bass as a tie-in with their 1966 King Kong animated series – but King Kong vs Godzilla – which started out as a story outline from Willis O'Brien, the genius behind the original King Kong (1933) – holds the record for selling the most tickets of any Godzilla movie in its homeland, despite a truly awful Kong suit. Previously available as a two-pack, these are now available separately for $10.49, but with the two pack still available for $14.99 from amazon.com, and no discernible difference, go with the two pack (DVD)
The Lost Boys Collection: The Lost Boys (1987); Lost Boys: The Tribe (2008) Joel Schumacher's Santa Cruz, CA-shot vampire movie stands as one of his few enjoyable films, PJ Pesce (From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter), directed the belated sequel, which was Warner Premiere's biggest selling DVD in 2008 – a second sequel is on the way. (DVD)
Misery (1990) A bright new transfer for the Blu-ray release of Rob Reiner's classic. Extras are standard definition on Disc 2: a Widescreen anamorphic SD version of the film; Rob Reiner commentary; commentary by screenwriter William Goldman; "Misery Loves Company" 30-minute featurette; "Marc Shaiman's Musical Misery Tour", a 15-minute overview of the score; "Diagnosing Annie Wilkes"; "Advice for the Stalked"; "Profile of a Stalker"; "Celebrity Stalkers"; "Anti-Stalking Laws"; and trailers. Well worth $15 to see Caan and (particularly) Bates face off in perhaps the finest Stephen King adaptation. (Blu-ray/DVD)
Nude in Dracula's Castle: Amazing, Rare & Erotic 8mm Home Movies. Five hours of vintage erotica on two discs, with a booklet outlining the history of the form. (DVD)
Phantasm II (1988) Staggeringly late Region 1 DVD release – after years of legal right battles – for Don Coscarelli's sequel to the much-loved original. This is arguably the best in the series, with James Le Gros (Point Break) taking over the role of Mike, with Reggie Bannister and Angus Scrimm back as fan-favorites Reggie, and the Tall Man. Those hoping for all the extras available on Anchor Bay's R2 UK release (two hour documentary; "Angus Scrimm at Fangoria 1989" featurette; stills; art; TV spots; and trailer) will be disappointed as this Universal Studios release only includes the film and a trailer. (DVD)
Rest Stop The Collection: Rest Stop: Dead Ahead (2006) and Rest Stop: Don't Look Back (2008). Rest Stop was the first release from Warner Premiere's Raw Feed label (Alien Raiders), co-founder (along with Tony Krantz and Daniel Myrick) John Shiban (The X-Files) wrote and directed the first movie, which aimed to be Wolf Creek with a supernatural twist, but ends up confusing. Second Unit Director Shawn Papazian took over for the sequel, which at least attempts to explain some of the plot, but to no great effect. (DVD)
Silo Killer (2002); and Silo Killer 2: The Wrath of Kyle (2009) Bill Konig's micro-budget ($6,000 and $2,500 respectively) Arizona-shot-on-video opuses have much to recommend them, despite some unnerving shifts in tone. (DVD)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Collection: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Beginning (2006) Marcus Nispel's okay remake, and Jonathan Liebesman's crap sequel together on one disc. (DVD)
Van Helsing (2004) Stephen Sommers' (GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra) shockingly awful mash-up of Universal Monster movies, now in high definition for a clearer view of all that CGI. Extras include commentary by Sommers and Editor/Producer Bob Ducsay; commentary with actors Richard Roxburgh, Shuler Hensley and Will Kemp; "Van Helsing: The Story, The Life, The Legend" featurette; "Track the Adventure" on the set design; "Dracula's Lair is Transformed" time-lapse set construction and tear-down; "Bringing the Monsters to Life" effects featurette; "You Are in the Movie!" on-set featurette; "The Music of Van Helsing" interview with Alan Silvestri; "The Masquerade Ball Scene: Unmasked" featurette; "The Art of Van Helsing" featurette; Bloopers. (Blu-ray)
Wes Craven Collection: The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988), Shocker (1989), The People Under the Stairs (1991) Three consecutive films from Craven's late 80s–early 90s oeuvre (skipping the entirely missable 1990 TV movie Night Visions). (DVD)
The Wolf Man: Special Edition (Universal Legacy Series) (1941) Another outing for George Waggner's classic, but one worth the purchase, even if (like me) you already own the green box Legacy set. The Special 75th Anniversary Editions of Frankenstein (1931) and Dracula (1931) both showed significant improvement over previous DVD releases, sharper, with better contrast, and a decrease in dust and scratches, so it's a good way to acquaint yourself with the original prior to the arrival of the remake next year. (DVD). Note, this release appears to be delayed.
Wrong Turn (2003) Rob Schmidt has so far failed to live up to the promise shown here – one "Masters of Horror", a "Fear Itself" episode, and the disappointing The Alphabet Killer (2008), but Wrong Turn itself is excellent fun, and a fine synthesis of the 70s-style backwoods inbred cannibal sub-genre. With Desmond Harrington, Eliza Dushku, Ted Clark, Jeremy Sisto, and Julian Richings. Standard definition extras include a commentary by Schmidt, Dushku, and Harrington; "Fresh Meat: The Wounds of Wrong Turn" featurette including Stan Winston; "Making of Wrong Turn" featurette; "Eliza Dushku: Babe in the Woods" featurette "Stan Winston" featurette, discussing his career; and deleted scenes. (Blu-ray)
Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007) First-time director and long-time horror fan Joe Lynch took the reigns for the sequel, and did better than we had any right to expect for a DTV sequel. Henry Rollins, Ken Kirzinger, and Erica Leerhsen star; extras for this Unrated Edition include commentary by Lynch and actors Leerhsen and Rollins; commentary by writers Turi Meyer and Al Septien "More Blood, More Guts: The Making of Wrong Turn 2"; "On Location with P-Nut" featurette; "Making Gore Look Good" featurette; "The Craft of the Crotch Hit" featurette; "M's Death Scene" featurette; and a trailer. Wrong Turn 3: Left for Dead (trailer here) will hit DVD shelves on October 20th, and fans may want to hold off for the three-disc set that's released the same day. (Blu-ray)
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