DVD and Blu-ray Releases: December 5, 2017
Welcome back, everyone. This week’s list is a bit longer compared to last week’s, and it does not come without discrepancies, so let’s get those out of the way first. First up, The Premonition and Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood might not actually release until the 12th, so you may have to tough it out one more week if you can’t find either of those films this week. Likewise, The Amicus Collection, And Now the Screaming Starts, and Asylum may not be available until the 19th. Hopefully you have no trouble finding them this week, but if you do, I will remind you again next week and the week after that.
Just in time for the Christmas season, the Blu-ray and DVD for Better Watch Out will be hitting your local shelves. I will definitely be grabbing this as this movie was excellent, loaded with humor and just all around fun.
Another item I will be picking up is the Collector’s Edition Blu-ray for Silent Night, Deadly Night. This has become a holiday staple for my wife and me over the years, and now we can share it with our son to better instill the difference between right and wrong or good and “naughty!”
In terms of more recent movies that you can grab this week, The Crucifixion, Werewolves of the Third Reich, and Dementia 13 will all be at your disposal. Check out the rest of the article to see if anything else jumps out at you; and as always, pleasant viewing.
MOVIES
60 Seconds to Die (2016)
Starring:
Dexter Fletcher, Maria Olsen, Lara Jean Mummert
Synopsis:
60 Seconds to Die is a non-stop, heart-pounding horror anthology, uniting the most amazing new filmmakers from across the globe to create a new dimension in terror. Modern day video grindhouse, in the style of the most shocking and gritty movies of the 70’s, 60 Seconds to Die will grind you up and spit you out. Thrill to tales of bizarre and heinous crimes, many of which are too real to believe, but believe you should, as these graphic depictions of death and murder are based on real life occurrences. 60 Seconds to Die is the new face of horror, bringing together a collective vision of modern horror to light the fuel for a nightmarish bonfire.
And Now the Screaming Starts (1973)
Starring:
Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom, Patrick Magee, Stephanie Beacham
Synopsis:
For Amicus only period production, The Studio that Dripped Blood adapted the Gothic horror novel Fengriffen into an insane 18th Century saga of heaving bosoms, graphic dismemberment and supernatural violation. The legendary Peter Cushing leads an all-star cast including Herbert Lom (The Dead Zone), Patrick Magee (A Clockwork Orange) and Stephanie Beacham (Dracula A.D.1972) in a twisted tale of family curses, axe murders, corpse desecration and a deliriously depraved performance by Lom that has to be seen to be believed. Ian Ogilvy (Witchfinder General) co-stars in this 70s shocker directed by Roy Ward Baker (Asylum, The Vampire Lovers) and featuring ravishing cinematography by Academy Award winner Denys Coop (10 Rillington Place, Superman), now remastered in 4k with all of its violence and nudity fully restored.
Asylum (1972)
Starring:
Peter Cushing, Britt Ekland, Herbert Lom
Synopsis:
In 1972, The Studio that Dripped Blood brought together director Roy Ward Baker (Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde, The Vampire Lovers), novelist/screenwriter Robert Bloch (Psycho) and an all-star cast that includes Peter Cushing, Britt Ekland (The Wicker Man), Herbert Lom (Mark Of The Devil), Patrick Magee (A Clockwork Orange), Robert Powell (The Survivor) and Charlotte Rampling (The Night Porter) for the shocker 10kBullets.com calls classic British horror, genuinely creepy and essential viewing. Here inside the gates of Dunsmoor Asylum for the Incurably Insane, you ll discover four disturbing tales of voodoo vengeance, murderous mannequins, psychotic ingénues, demonic dolls and one killer twist of an ending. Barry Morse (Space: 1999), Barbara Parkins (Valley of the Dolls) and James Villiers (Repulsion) co-star in the best Amicus anthology (Classic-Horror.com), now remastered from vault elements and loaded with Special Features.
Better Watch Out (2017)
Starring:
Patrick Warburton, Levi Miller, Olivia DeJonge, Virginia Madsen
Synopsis:
This holiday season, you may be home, but you’re not alone… In this fresh and gleefully twisted spin on home invasion horror, babysitter Ashley (Olivia DeJonge) must defend her young charges (Levi Miller, Ed Oxenbould ) when intruders break into the house one snowy night… or so she thinks.
The Crucifixion (2017)
Starring:
Sophie Cookson, Corneliu Ulici, Brittany Ashworth, Matthew Zajac
Synopsis:
Inspired by true events, this horror tale from the creators of Annabelle and The Conjuring reveals a journalist’s surreal, supernatural investigation into a nun’s shocking death. American reporter Nicole travels to investigate the possible murder of Sister Marinescu, sadistically crucified by a priest to vanquish a demon. As Nicole uncovers the weird tales behind this horrific event, disturbing events reveal that the demon is still lurking nearby, seeking a new human host…
Dementia 13 (2017)
Starring:
Channing Pickett, Marianne Noscheze, Christian Ryan, Julia Campanelli, Ana Isabelle
Synopsis:
Some ghosts you can’t get rid of; other ghosts want to get rid of you. Dementia 13 follows an old-money family still dealing with the death of its youngest daughter several years later. While honoring the daughter’s death, a long con, an axe-wielding serial killer, and a vengeful ghost all coalesce in the same night to target the family. Everyone in the family has a secret, nobody wants to face what they did, and for someone to survive, the truth needs to come out – sooner than later.
Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood (1973)
Starring:
Janine Carazo, Jerome Dempsey, Daniel Dietrich
Synopsis:
YOU’LL SHRIEK WITH HORROR!
Roll up, roll up! Step right up for Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood – the grisliest, freakiest show in town! Virtually impossible to find until its revival on DVD in the early 2000s, this 1973 cult oddity, from late director Christopher Speeth, is a cinematic experience like no other.
Arriving at a creepy, dilapidated fairground under the premise of looking for work, the Norris family are hoping to track down their missing son, who, they believe, is somewhere in the park. But it’s not long before they find themselves at the mercy of the fairground’s fiendish proprietors and the cannibalistic ghouls lurking in the caverns below.
Filmed at the Willow Grove amusement park in Pennsylvania, Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood is a mind-melting phantasmagoria of carnie craziness which blends elements of Night of the Living Dead and Carnival of Souls, adding an (un)healthy dose of Herschell Gordon Lewis-style gore for good measure.
The Premonition (1976) (Special Edition)
Starring:
Sharon Farrell, Edward Bell, Danielle Brisebois
Synopsis:
BEYOND THE POWER OF AN EXORCIST…
The mid-1970s saw the rise in popularity of films centring on the subject of parapsychology, led by Carrie, Brian De Palma’s classic tale of telekinetic terror. Precognition, or future sight, would be the topic under exploration in Robert Allen Schnitzer’s contribution to the psychic craze: the chilling and much-overlooked The Premonition.
Mother Sheri Bennett (Sharon Farrell; Night of the Comet, Sweet Sixteen) is assailed by terrifying visions in which a strange woman attempts to steal away her five-year-old daughter, Janie. Are these bizarre occurrences the result of some sort of mental disturbance, or is something much more sinister afoot?
Featuring a haunting score from accomplished classical composer Henry Mollicone, The Premonition has remained unjustly obscure over the years but is heralded as a true classic of 70s US horror moviemaking by genre aficionados.
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) (Collector’s Edition)
Starring:
Linnea Quigley, Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick, Britt Leach, Nancy Borgenicht, Leo Geter
Synopsis:
After his parents are murdered, a young tormented teenager goes on a murderous rampage dressed as Santa, due to his stay at an orphanage where he was abused by the Mother Superior.
Werewolves of the Third Reich (2017)
Starring:
Francesco Tribuzio, Lee Bane, Darren Swain, Derek Nelson, Kwame Augustine
Synopsis:
In Nazi Germany at the height of World War II, a ragtag group of American soldiers known as “The Fearless Four” are shipped off to a military prison for a variety of infractions, ranging from mutiny to murder. While they’re being transported, Nazis attack the convoy, killing the MPs, but the rebellious American soldiers manage to escape. Travelling deep into rural Germany, the Americans stumble upon an SS experiment camp run by the notorious Doctor Mengele. They soon discover Mengele’s diabolical plan to fuse human and animal DNA to create an unstoppable army of werewolf soldiers. The Fearless Four are now the allied forces’ only hope of preventing Hitler’s Third Reich gaining the upper hand in the war. It’s a fight to the death, and only the most brutal and merciless will survive.
The Witch Who Came From the Sea (1976)
Starring:
Millie Perkins, Lonny Chapman, Vanessa Brown
Synopsis:
MOLLY REALLY KNOWS HOW TO CUT MEN DOWN TO SIZE!!!
Representing something of an anomaly in the career of director Matt Cimber (whose other credits include such blaxploitation fare as The Candy Tangerine Man), The Witch Who Came from the Sea is an unnerving journey into madness and murder starring Millie Perkins (The Diary of Anne Frank).
Molly (Perkins) experiences violent fantasies in which she ties muscular men up before bloodily dispatching them with a razor. But when a news report announces the shocking double-murder of two football players which strongly echoes one of Molly’s most recent depraved flights of fancy, the fantasy starts to bleed into reality… literally.
Written by Perkins’ late husband Robert Thom (Death Race 2000), The Witch Who Came from the Sea features early cinematography from DOP Dean Cundey, who would go on to expand his genre credentials with his work on Escape from New York and The Thing.
COLLECTIONS
The Amicus Collection
Starring:
Peter Cushing, Britt Ekland, Herbert Lom, Patrick Magee, Stephanie Beacham
Synopsis:
Known as The Studio that Dripped Blood, the British film company Amicus Productions founded by American writer/producers Max J. Rosenberg and Milton Subotsky built a legacy of horror anthologies and twisted thrillers that remains among the very best genre movies of the 70s. In this trio of Amicus classics featuring stars that include Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom, Britt Ekland, Patrick Magee, Stephanie Beacham, Calvin Lockhart, Michael Gambon and Charlotte Rampling, you’ll discover the studio’s legendary portmanteau Asylum, their insane Gothic shocker And Now The Screaming Starts, and exclusive to this set the infamous werewolf whodunit The Beast Must Die, as well as a bonus disc of Amicus trailers, TV commercials, rare interviews and more all in this 4-disc box set.
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