Hope you all enjoyed the Labor Day holiday. Welcome to another week of new release highlights on home video. A film or two in the group have been reviewed previously at length. If you see a link, be sure to click on it and find out more. So, if you can’t make it out to the movies this week, be sure to check one of these titles out!
Big New Releases!
Baby Blues – The plot of this independent Hong Kong horror flick follows a young couple who move into a new mansion and find a creepy old doll. It slowly begins to exert its evil, supernatural influence. Originally filmed in 3D (this home video release appears to be in 2D), most film festival reviews were quite poor with many stating it will result in more unintentional laughs from viewers than actual scares. Now renters can make up their own minds.
Cabin Fever: Patient Zero – This “prequel” to the 2002 low-budget horror hit follows the general concept of infected water causing teens nasty skin problems. The infected parties in this effort are part of a wild Caribbean bachelor party who discover the research facility responsible for creating the flesh-eating virus – one can assume that they aren’t able to stop the contamination from spreading. The press were not kind to this follow up – while they admitted the grisly make-up effects in the last third were impressive, they called the story dull, the characters dim bulbs and set-up painfully slow.
Devil’s Due – A carload of kidnappers with hostages find themselves taking an ill-advised short cut and experiencing supernatural phenomena while on the road in this trippy, low-budget horror thriller. It received good word of mouth at horror film festivals and may be of some interest to scare fans. Featured in the cast is screenwriter David Hayter (X-Men, Watchmen).
Draft Day – An all star cast leads this sports tale about the NFL and a Cleveland Browns’ GM desperate to build his team on the most hectic day of the off-season. Reviews were mixed for this effort, although more seemed to be positive than negative. Most write-ups suggested that it was an interesting concept but felt less like a drama than an ad for the NFL. Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, Ellen Burstyn, Frank Langella, Denis Leary, Terry Crews, Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs and Rosanna Arquette star. Read the site’s full length original review right here.
For No Good Reason – Documentary buffs may be interested in this non-fiction film about illustrator Ralph Steadman, whose surrealist work is most often associated with writer Hunter S. Thompson. The movie generally received good notices with reviews stating that it was nice to see an important artist get his due on film. However, they did feel that it was a somewhat superficial portrait and didn’t present its subject in a dramatic manner. It features appearance from fans including Johnny Depp, Terry Gilliam and Tim Robbins.
Moms’ Night Out – This “faith-based” comedy follows a small group of moms planning an evening out. Chaos ensues when their inept, babysitting husbands lose all track of their kids. Critics uniformly panned this effort, calling it frantic, forced, cheap-looking and worst of all, unfunny. Many have also suggested that it promotes some very old-fashioned gender roles. The movie stars Patricia Heaton, Sarah Drew, Trace Adkins and Sean Astin.
Night Moves – Three radical eco-terrorists plot to blow up a hydroelectric dam in this character-based indie drama from well regarded filmmaker Kelly Reichardt (director of Meek’s Cutoff). The film reportedly explores the reasons and motivations for the morally grey character’s actions. Members of the press were generally positive about the effort, praising the performances and low-key suspense generated, although some admitted the slow pacing and interpretative approach may not be for all viewers. It features Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning and Peter Sarsgaard.
They Came Together – Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Ed Helms, Cobie Smulders, Bill Hader, Melanie Lynskey and Ken Marino are just a few of the many familiar faces in this independent effort from David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer, Role Models, Wanderlust). It’s both a satire and ode to romantic comedies and tells the story a candy store owner who falls for a man who works at a corporate sweets company. Reviews were mostly positive for this effort. While it was described as a bit scattershot, they also wrote that there are several big laughs that make it all worthwhile.
Blasts From the Past!
Horror and sci-fi fans take note: if you like classic Universal Monster movies, this is your big day. The Universal Classics Monsters: 30 Film Collection DVD box set contains every flick in the cannon from 1931-1956, including the famed originals and all of their sequels, including the lesser known likes of The 1940’s Invisible Woman, 1936’s Dracula’s Daughter (not to mention both of the 40’s Abbott and Costello monster team-ups). It looks simply amazing.
If that’s all a little overwhelming, several classic Universal scare films are also being released on Blu-ray individually. The discs are loaded with extras explaining anything you could ever hope to know about the titles. For instance there is the 1931 Bela Lugosi version of Dracula (the disc also includes the 1931 Spanish language-version shot with a different cast on the same sets) as well as James Whale’s 1931 classic Frankenstein and his 1935 follow-up Bride of Frankenstein (both featuring Boris Karloff). But that’s not all, folks – the 30’s-40’s versions of The Wolfman, The Mummy, The Phantom of the Opera and (my personal favorite) The Invisible Man are also arriving. Finally, you can pick up the 1954 3D monster opus Creature From the Black Lagoon (as hoped for, both 2D and 3D versions of the films are included). Anyone who loves or is interested in classic monster movies can’t go wrong with picking up any of these discs.
Additionally, two films from Tokyo Shock that were listed on site but delayed just prior to their release are finally making their Blu-ray debuts. It’s a great excuse to post another funny Godzilla pic.
Here’s what was reported previously: Godzilla enthusiasts will find two classic titles arriving this week on Blu-ray from Tokyo Shock (a division of Media Blasters). Destroy All Monsters from 1969 features the big green lizard facing off against aliens who have taken control of all of his monstrous foes from previous films. The result is a series of action packed battles and one of the best entries in the original series. Even more exciting is the 1973 effort, Godzilla Vs. Megalon. Honestly, it’s considered the weakest entry in the series by many and geared more towards children than monster movie fans. But boy oh boy, is it hysterically funny. A cockroach with drills on its hands endangers the Earth along with another goofy monster named Gigan, so Godzilla fights the threat with the assistance of the size-shifting robot, Jet Jaguar. Not only will viewers see its green hero floor its opponent with a flying dropkick, but also dance a jig. What’s not to love?
Universal also has some other catalog titles coming to Blu-ray for the first time. They include the larger-than-life (and a little bit hammy) 1979 update of Dracula starring Frank Langella and Lawrence Olivier. Additionally, fans can pick up the bizarre 1984 adaptation of Stephen King’s Firestarter (starring Drew Barrymore) and the quirky 1991 Wes Craven horror flick The People Under the Stairs (which features two Twin Peaks alumni and an early performance from Ving Rhames). For the kids, there’s also the 1995 update of Casper – this popular version of the friendly ghost tale also starred Bill Pullman and Christina Ricci.
You Know, For Kids!
Here are the week’s titles of note for small fry.
Capser (1995 Universal feature film)
Octonauts: Deep Seas Mission
Woody Woodpecker and Friends Halloween Favorites
On the Tube!
There are plenty of noteworthy TV shows arriving to home video as well. In honor of the release of the seventh season of Bonanza, here’s an… interesting… press photo that millions of kids ended up having in their possession after it was used as part of a 3D Viewmaster slide set. What’s a Viewmaster, you may ask? Just look it up online, older readers loved them as kids. Anyway, check out what the cast are doing with their hands while they pose in this very special photo. Imagine being a kid, looking through the contraption and being flipped off in 3D! It’s the stuff of legend. Oh, and if you do happen to pick up a season of this classic western show, be sure and grab your toys before you sit down to watch.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 9
Bonanza: Official Seventh Season Vol. 1 & 2
Chicago Fire: Season 2
Chicago P.D.: Season 1
Crossbones: Season 1
Doctor Who: Series 4, Part 2
Grey’s Anatomy: Season 10
History Detectives: Special Investigations
The League: Season 5
Line of Duty: Series 2
Lovejoy: Series 2
Midsomer Murders: Series 10
Midsomer Murders: Series 11
Nature: Fabulous Frogs (PBS)
New Girl: Season 3
The Originals: Season 1
Person of Interest: Season 3
Years of Living Dangerously: The Complete Showtime Series