Good news for lovers of the late and sorely missed Godfather of Gore, Lucio Fulci. My Horror Squad colleague Scott Weinberg spotted a listing for a Blu-ray version of City of the Living Dead over at DVD Active.
Blue Underground is the company responsible for this new version of the intestine-spewing, drill bit-to-the-head Italian splatter epic. The film–also commonly known as The Gates of Hell–will be available on regular DVD, but the new Blu-ray is the version you’re going to want to grab. Extras for the Blu-ray disc include three brand new goodies: “Acting Among the Living Dead – Interview with Star Catriona MacColl”, “Entering the Gates of Hell – Interview with Star Giovanni Lombardo Radice”, “Memories of the Maestro”. I’d be all over that for those three things alone–if I owned a Blu-ray player.
The discs are scheduled to be in stores on May 25th. Check out the new cover art above.
One of my favorite under-the-radar films of last year was Glenn McQuaid’s I Sell the Dead. The film turned up on IFC’s VOD service, but most people missed it. I reported news earlier that it was slated to come to DVD at the end of March. Now, Dread Central has scored a look at the cover art and supplemental materials for the disc. Looks like it’s shaping up to be a nice release.
That’s the cover art above. Extras on the disc include:
Commentary with stars Dominic Monaghan and Larry Fessenden
Commentary with director Glenn McQuaid
The Making of I Sell the Dead featurette
The Visual Effects of I Sell the Dead featurette
Trailer
Check out my review if you’re on the fence about this one. I Sell the Dead hits retail on March 30th.
If you like your slashers old school, then news that Code Red is preparing a new DVD release for 1982’s cult classic Madman should definitely brighten your Monday.
Originally released on DVD by Anchor Bay back in 2001, the film has long been out of print. IFC keeps it in regular rotation, which has helped a whole new generation of slasherphiles appreciate its considerable (and cheesy) charms, but news of it being available again to own certainly warms my black heart.
Details on what the disc will include in terms of supplements are still being hammered out. What we do know is that the commentary track with director Joe Giannone, writer Gary Sales, and stars Tony Fish and Paul Ehlers will be jumping to the new version.
STYD is also speculating that the new disc will feature cast interviews and a tour of the film’s various shooting locations led by Ehlers himself.
Here’s the simplistic plot description from IMDB:
At a summer camp for youths, cockey pre-teen calls out the name of mass serial killer “Madman Marz”. Suddenly, counselors are being maimed and slaughtered in various ways by the backwoodsman who has returned when his name was called.
No official release date has been announced, but it seems safe to assume that we’ll see Madman sometime in 2010.
I reported news on the tentative DVD release date for Marcus Dunstan’s The Collector over on Horror Squad a few weeks back. Today, that date is now official. If you missed out on seeing the film during its theatrical run this past July, clear your calendars for April 6th–because that’s when the disc version will be available for your perusal.
Video ETA is reporting that date, and they’re rarely ever wrong about these things, so it seems a safe bet that this is the real deal. It’s odd that we’ve had such a long delay between the film’s theatrical run and its DVD release, but here’s to hoping the film finds an audience in the home market.
Here’s the synopsis followed by a trailer.
“The Collector follows the story of handyman and ex-con Arkin, who aims to repay a debt to his ex-wife by robbing his new employer’s country home. Unfortunately for Arkin, a far worse enemy has already laid claim to the property—and the family. As the seconds tick down to midnight, Arkin becomes a reluctant hero trapped by a masked ‘Collector’ in a maze of lethal invention—the Spanish Inquisition as imagined by Rube Goldberg—while trying to rescue the very family he came to rob.”
I can live with the fact that New Line and Warner Home Video are giving us another Nightmare on Elm Street box set. It’s totally unnecessary and clearly a ploy to make a few bucks on what they hope will be an outbreak of “Freddy Fever” once the remake hits, but it’s not like they’re the first people who’ve released new sets of their back catalog to capitalize on a remake (look at all the Friday the 13th discs we got last year…). Hell, you can even cut them some slack–they’re including Freddy vs. Jason, which wasn’t in the original set.
What I (and countless other Freddy fans) cannot forgive is the new box art for this set. If you look closely, you’ll no doubt notice that the new cover is a poorly photoshopped version of a picture of Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare on Elm Street remake (this one right here). How in the fuck do you put Jackie Earle Haley on the cover of a box set of Freddy movies and not Robert Englund? I can live with the fact that Englund isn’t playing Freddy in the new film, but Jesus Christ, he’s the only guy who plays Freddy in any of the movies in this set. Put him on the cover and give him his due.
Anyway, this abomination is being released on April 6th. Needless to say I will not be buying it.
One of my favorite horror films of last year was Tommy Wirkola’s Nazi zombie flick Dead Snow. It played on IFC’s video on demand channel for awhile, but if you missed it I’ve got good news.
Yesterday saw the announcement of the film’s official DVD and Blu-ray release dates. Mark your calendars for February 23rd, because that’s when the undead 4th Reich rises from their graves. The film is scheduled to come on a single Blu-ray disc or a 2-Disc special edition DVD. Here’s what you can expect in terms of extras.
Behind Dead Snow featurette
Special make-up effects of Dead Snow featurette
Madness in the North, Madness in the West! featurette
Video ETA has posted a release date for the DVD and Blu-ray version of Steward Hendler’s Sorority Row remake. They actually posted it a few days back but I was saving it for a day when there wasn’t much news. My apologies to all two of you who’ve been sitting on the edge of your seats refreshing the site every ten seconds waiting for this vital information to turn up…
Anyway, according to the site, the film will be available on February 23rd. This makes my headline a lie, unless you celebrate Valentine’s Day eight days after the rest of the world. Sue me. I suck at coming up with post titles on the best of days, so I’m not letting something like the calendar fuck this one up.
Sorority Row stars Audrina Patridge (thanks to the person who pointed out I was spelling her name wrong every time I posted it a few months back), Briana Evigan, Rumer Willis, and a lot of other chicks. When a sorority prank goes wrong and leads to murder, the sisters cover it up. Unfortunately for them, a masked killer knows what’s up and starts knocking them off one by one. The film underperformed at the box office, but maybe it’ll find an audience in the home market. Probably not, though. I just like to be an optimist.
If you missed out on Milla Jovovich’s alien abduction flick The Fourth Kind when it played theaters earlier this year, you’ll no doubt be pleased to know that it’s coming to DVD and Blu-ray in 2010.
Video ETA is reporting that the film will make its home theater debut on March 16th. No details yet on any of the extras that will be included, but at least we can now pencil in a date.
The film tells the story Jovovich’s character, a psychologist who starts investigating the strange number of disappearances in the Nome, Alaska area. The film drew criticism for exploiting the “based on a true story” motif in its marketing and the “re-creation” of various scenes.
Cabin Fever 2, Ti West’s direct-to-DVD follow up to the film that launched Eli Roth’s career, has had a tumultuous road to release. I don’t want to spend this whole story chronicling all of the problems, but you can probably figure out most of them when I say Lionsgate is releasing the film and Ti West has talked about disowning the project at various points in the past few months.
That being said, I’m sure lots of you are still going to give the film a watch when it hits DVD on February 16th. I know I will. So, here’s the trailer for the film. It’s not the most awful thing I’ve ever seen, so there may be hope for the project after all. Or it might be a great example of how marketing people can make shit look like gold–the concept I was talking about with the trailers for the remake of The Crazies. I suppose we won’t really know which is the case until early next year.
Here’s the official synopsis, just in case you were curious.
“CABIN FEVER delivered terror in the flesh, but now your flesh will crawl with CABIN FEVER 2: SPRING FEVER, the bloodcurdling sequel to the hit horror film. Days after a killer virus consumed his friends, Paul emerges from a ditch by a river. Though his body has been ravaged by the virus, he is determined to survive and to warn others of the danger. However, a water bottling plant has already distributed contaminated water to the local high school. The school’s students are excitedly preparing for the prom, unaware they’re about to have a grisly date with death.“
With news that a Zombieland sequel is already in the works, there’s no time quite like the present to see the first flick if you somehow managed to miss it in theaters this past October. Ruben Fleischer’s zom-com is set to hit DVD and Blu-ray on February 2nd of 2010, but here’s your first look at what you can expect from the package.
Early buzz says viewers can expect “deleted scenes, featurettes, and more” along with ubiquitous digital copy for those who splurge on the Blu-ray. Nothing’s been officially locked in yet, so this is all subject to change (I’d bet money the discs will feature at least one commentary track. Hopefully they get Bill Murray involved), but you can rest assured that the February release won’t be a bare-bones package to tide you over until they get around to releasing some ultimate edition.
