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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:

Check out my review if you’re on the fence about this one. I Sell the Dead hits retail on March 30th.

UK fright fans got a chance to check out The Descent Part 2 in theaters last December. Unfortunately, American audiences will have to make do with a DVD release as opposed to catching it on the big screen.

DVD Active is reporting that Lionsgate will bring Jon Harris’ sequel to Neil Marshall’s cult chiller to American home video audiences on April 27th. I’m ambivalent about this–to be honest, there are films that I don’t really need to see in a theater, and The Descent Part 2 falls squarely in that category. I’m perfectly content to watch it from my couch.

Here’s the synopsis:

Dazed, bloodied and speechless with trauma, Sarah Carter emerges alone from the Appalachian cave system where the events of THE DESCENT took place. Local sheriff Redmond Vaines forces her back underground to help the rescue team which is desperately searching for her five missing girlfriends. As the team moves deeper into the caves, Sarah’s flashes of fractured memory intensify and she begins to realizes the full horror of the would-be rescue mission. Only Sarah knows the terror which lurks in the shadows of the caves. But they are about to encounter a new tribe of crawlers, inbred, deformed and even more viciously feral than those Sarah faced before.

No word yet on what extras might be included with the disc, but I’ll keep you posted as we get closer to April 27th.

Just a quick note here. If you’ve been waiting to check out the French horror film Mutants, IFC has good news for you.

The film, directed by David Morlet, will make it’s IFC Direct On Demand debut on February 10th. I haven’t seen the film yet, but I’ve heard enough to have my curiosity piqued.

Here’s the plot blurb:

“In a world devastated by a pandemic virus that turns human beings into primitive and bloodthirsty creatures, Marco and Sonia set off to find a secret base to escape from the ‘mutants’. When the latter attack them, Marco is infected. Little by little, he undergoes the same changes. Sonia, who is expecting a baby, is then forced to fight her worst enemy, the man she loves.”

Alex Aja’s Piranha 3D sure has been in the news a lot lately. First it was for the trailer debut (attached to prints of Avatar), then it was because it was delayed until August (for any number of reasons–it depends on who you asked and who you believe). Now there’s finally a watchable version of that trailer online (replacing the really awful and nearly unwatchable one that’s been making the rounds for the past week or so–thanks Trailer Spy!). I’ll say this: The movie looks more interesting when you can actually see what’s happening in the trailer.

Here’s the plot synopsis. I don’t really care what the movie’s about–it’s got Richard Dreyfuss playing a character modeled after his role as Hooper in Jaws. That’s all I needed to hear to get my ass in theater seat.

“A new type of terror is about to be cut loose on beautiful Lake Victoria. After a sudden underwater tremor sets free scores of the prehistoric man-eating fish, an unlikely group of strangers must band together to stop themselves from becoming fish food for the area’s new razor-toothed residents. But our heroine (Elisabeth Shue) is seriously outnumbered, and with only one chance to save the lake and her family from totally being devoured, she must risk everything to destroy the aquatic carnivores herself.“

Piranha 3D is now tentatively slated to hit theaters this August–unless the Weinsteins go broke between now and then.

I’m looking forward to Alexandre Aja’s Piranha remake, not because I expect it to be particularly good, but because it looks very gory (something I can always get behind) and I generally tend to like Aja’s films (Mirrors being the one exception). So, it’s with great disappointment that I bring news of the film’s release date shift.

The LA Times is reporting that The Weinstein Company has pulled the film from its April release window and will now release it in August at the earliest. The cynical amongst us are taking this as one more sign that the Weinstein company is in dire financial straits, but the LA Times article insists the move is really about avoiding direct competition with the comic book adaptation Kick-Ass. That makes sense on some levels–as does moving to August or later. May is the start of the summer blockbuster season and Piranha would certainly sink without a trace in those shark-infested waters (ooh, see what I did there?). August is where the dregs of the summer season go to die, and Aja’s film would certainly have a better chance of making some money in that release window than in May-July.

No official release date has been announced (which makes the fact that they put the teaser trailer on Avatar all the more hilarious to me), but once again the Weinsteins look nearly inept. Didn’t these guys rule the world at one point? What the hell happened?

Expect more on this as details come into focus. In the meantime, check out some gory new stills at Bloody-Disgusting.

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’m not sure why anyone would feel the urge to make a sequel to one of the worst films in recent history (Uwe Boll’s Alone in the Dark), but that’s exactly what’s happening and I’ve got the trailer to prove it (thanks to the mighty Dread Central).

What’s even more puzzling is why you’d make a sequel to a terrible film that is essentially universally despised, change the actors and story, and yet keep the title. Christian Slater and Tara Reid are gone and the only real tie to the original movie (which was based on a videogame series) is that Edward Carnby is still the main character. If that’s your only real tie to the original series, you’d probably be better off just doing a brand new standalone film. I guess this proves that even bad publicity is better than no publicity at all. I can see no other reason to tie yourself to anything directed by Uwe Boll.

Anyway, I’m probably gonna wind up watching this thing (and hating myself as soon as it starts) because it’s got Bill Moseley, Danny Trejo, and Lance Henriksen in it. Those three guys are cool enough to get me to watch just about anything and I don’t see that changing any time soon. Donald Pleasence had the same affect on me–and while I was burned by many a bad flick with Dr. Loomis skulking around in it, I kept going back for more.

We’ll all find out how bad Alone in the Dark II is when it debuts on DVD this January 26th.

Ti West’s House of the Devil made my ten best horror films of 2009, but I realize most people didn’t get to see it (it played a very limited theatrical run and was available on various VOD services). If that applies to you, then this is good news.

According to various online sources, House of the Devil will be available on DVD and Blu-ray on February 2nd. Read on for the technical specs…

Special features will include: 5.1 English Audio;English and Spanish subtitles; feature-length commentary with writer-director-editor Ti West and actress Jocelin Donahue; feature-length commentary with writer-director-editor Ti West, producers Larry Fessenden and Peter Phok, and sound designer Graham Reznick; “In The House of the Devil”; “Behind the House of the Devil”; Theatrical Trailer; Deleted Scenes

Jocelin Donahue stars in the film as Samantha, a pretty college student who takes a gig babysitting for Tom Noonan and his wife (Mary Woronov) only to discover that there’s something much more nefarious afoot. The film is a throwback to the ’80s era of exploitation and satanic panic films and should please just about everyone who grew up in the big box VHS era.

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.