New Release Tuesday

 

I am still battling it out from home and just wanted to get a new release post before Christmas.  There is only one new release here but I did want to point out a couple of Vinegar Syndrome’s Black Friday releases that I got in the mail the other day.  I appreciate all that stop by and still support physical media as it may be on its last leg.  I hope you all stay safe during these trying times and Merry Christmas!

Jiu Jitsu- Every six years, an ancient order of jiu-jitsu fighters joins forces to battle a vicious race of alien invaders. But when a celebrated war hero goes down in defeat, the fate of the planet and mankind hangs in the balance.  This is probably not very good but it was the only new descent looking physical release on Amazon’s list today.  The trailer sure is crazy good though, go check it out.

The Beastmaster- A sword-and-sorcery fantasy about a young man's search for revenge. Armed with supernatural powers, the handsome hero and his animal allies wage war against marauding forces.  I have not seen this since it had a steady run on cable.  I am not going so far back as the HBO days, (Hey Beastmaster is On!) but I am talking about when it was on TBS all the time.  Remember when they used to show movies and Atlanta Braves Baseball?  I miss those days.  I am really looking forward to spinning this classic after all the Christmas movies are done.  This is a great looking release from Vinegar Syndrome.

Fade to Black- A shy, lonely film buff embarks on a killing spree against those who browbeat and betray him, all the while stalking his idol, Marilyn Monroe look alike.  This movie has been out of print for years because it is a rights nightmare.  It has old movie clips, posters, and I am sure there are some music issues in there as well so a DVD copy of this has been around $100.  But some how Vinegar Syndrome was able to put out a release of this so I snagged it before it was gone.  

The Midnight Sky- This post-apocalyptic tale follows Augustine, a lonely scientist in the Arctic, as he races to stop Sully and her fellow astronauts from returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe.  This title may start a bad trend here on the site.  This is coming to select theaters and Netflix today.  So there may not be a physical release of this, ever.  These are the unfortunate times we are going to.  The trailers looks interesting and Clooney has proven himself a solid director so let’s go to Netflix and check it out.

New Release Tuesday

 

Tenet- Armed with only one word, Tenet, and fighting for the survival of the entire world, a Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time.  I went to the theater to catch this and it is good but it was not the movie to get audiences back to the theater yet.  Wonder Woman 1984 will do that even if it is streaming on HBO Max.  It is a solid effort from Nolan and for me always requires a re-watch soon after to catch some more details so I was glad Target had this in stock today.  This may be Nolan's last movie with Warner Brothers after he ripped them for the HBO Max release the same day as theaters.  

I love this classic cartoons and I am really pleased that Warner Archive released another volume of these,  Highly recommended.

Curse of Frankenstein- Victor Frankenstein builds a creature and brings it to life, but it behaves not as he intended.  This is one of the best Hammer movies from what I remember so I will be ordering this soon after Christmas.  I always like the Cushing and Lee pairings.

Wolf of Snow Hollow- Terror grips a small mountain town as bodies are discovered after each full moon. Losing sleep, raising a teenage daughter, and caring for his ailing father, officer Marshall struggles to remind himself there's no such thing as werewolves.  This is a good looking werewolf movie that features one of the last performances of the late, great Robert Forster.

Movie Poster Monday- Reindeer Games

 

Movie Poster Monday- Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2

 

Rambo Steelbook Set

 

If you did not know I am a big Sly Stallone fan and I have been waiting for some sort of new Rambo set since Rambo: Last Blood came out last year.  Now we have it as it is a Best Buy Exclusive featuring all five movies as steelbooks in a steel box.  The artwork is fantastic on all of these as this is exactly what I have been waiting for, almost.  What is disappointing here is that Rambo is the theatrical cut and not the John Rambo extended cut and Rambo: Last Blood is also the theatrical cut.  Now the set does include a digital code for the Last Blood extended cut but it is disappointing that both versions of each movie were not included, I prefer those cuts.  The set also has a digital code for all the other movies and also has a little note from Sly himself in there.  The highest of recommendations!  Remember, if that sheriff would stopped in town and just let Rambo get something to eat we would have none of these.

**Update-  I stand corrected, I watched and verified that Rambo is the John Rambo cut in this set.  

Movie Poster Monday- Dr. No

 

31 Days of Horror, Tonight: The Fly 1958

 

New Release Tuesdays

 We have not done this in awhile so let's get caught up on some of the noteworthy releases of lately.  

Superman: Man of Tomorrow- Daily Planet intern Clark Kent takes learning-on-the-job to new extremes when Lobo and Parasite set their sights on Metropolis.  This was a good flick as we get another how Superman got his start and it is a welcome entry in the DC animated universe.

Rob Zombie Trilogy- Rob Zombie is an interesting guy that does music and movies and is good at both and I enjoy most of his stuff.  This horror trilogy what he is mostly known for cinematically as I like the first two a lot and the third left a little to be desired but with Sid Haig’s health declining Zombie had to almost re-write the entire movie as production was getting underway.  So if it seems a little rushed, it was.  I went to Targets all over town trying to score this exclusive and was not lucky so ordered it online.  I am finding it harder to find titles at the store and I fear that may be a problem and an article for another time.

The Grey Fox- When an aging, but gentlemanly stagecoach robber is released from prison, he decides to go to Canada to become a train robber.  I have never seen this but I have always remembered that cover.  Just going by the synopsis this sounds like my kind of movie and will get this when Halloween season is over.

Elephant Man- A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of kindness, intelligence and sophistication.  I have been waiting a long time for a blu ray of this as this has been out of print for some time so it is about time.

Psycho- A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run, and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.  If you have not seen the mother of horror movies that is your problem.  A couple of years a go a German blu ray was released and it stressed something like “Psycho Uncut: “The extended version of the movie as seen in theaters in 1960 is exactly as intended by Alfred Hitchcock and now available with additional footage for the first time.” This caught the attention of a lot of cinema geeks.  Wasn’t the version we have been watching all these years the theatrical cut?  Turns out is was not.  Now do not get too excited, from what I have read it is mostly extended dialogue scenes.  There is no bonus shower scenes, I think Hitchcock got exactly what he wanted there. I love this movie and have bought it more times than I can count and I have bought it again to add to the collection.  The highest of recommendations.

Shivers- The residents of a suburban high-rise apartment building are being infected by a strain of parasites that turn them into mindless, sex-crazed fiends out to infect others by the slightest sexual contact.  This is not my favorite Cronenberg film but I am glad this was released because there had been rumors earlier in the year that the Vestron Video series was ending.  So pick this up so we can get more of these releases.

Uncommon Valor- Ten years after his son went M.I.A. in Vietnam, U.S. Marine retired Colonel Jason Rhodes assembles a private rescue team to find Americans held in P.O.W. camps in Laos.  A very solid action flick from the director of First Blood.  I am happy to see this on blu and boy do I miss Gene Hackman.

Death Wish 3- Architect/vigilante Paul Kersey arrives back in New York City and is forcibly recruited by a crooked police chief to fight street crime caused by a large gang terrorizing the neighborhoods.  This is a Scorpion release and this is my favorite Death Wish movie as Chuck Bronson practically takes on all the gangs of New York even though it was filmed in London.  If you have not seen this do yourself a favor, sit back and enjoy this masterpiece. 

Batman: Death in the Family- In this very first interactive animated DC movie, you get to decide Jason Todd's fate.  Based on one of the best Batman comics back in the early 90s where you got to call in and vote on the fate of Robin for the next issue.  On this blu you get to see the same thing and see what happens to The Boy Wonder.

Tremors: Shriekers Island- Graboids are illegally taken to a new island resort by a rich playboy as a dangerous form of trophy hunting, and Burt Gummer steps up to save the day.  I had never seen a Tremors sequel until recently as my son and I have watched them all so I had to pick this up to complete the series.  I must admit I enjoyed these quite a bit and with the way this one ended I wonder if there will be more.

There is another big release coming but I am gonna save that for another day.

31 Days of Horror, Tonight: The Blob 1988

 

31 Days of Horror, Tonight: Friday the 13th

 

31 Days of Horror, Tonight: Son of Frankenstein

 

31 Days of Horror, Tonight: The Exorcist

 

31 Days of Horror, Tonight: The Wolfman 1941

 

31 Days of Horror, Tonight: Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers

 

31 Days of Horror, Tonight: The Devil's Reject

 

31 Days of Horror, Tonight: Bubba Ho-Tep

 

31 Days of Horror, Tonight: Hatchet

 

31 Days of Horror, Tonight: Tremors

 

31 Days of Horror, Tonight: Halloween: Season of the Witch

 

31 Days of Horror, Tonight: My Bloody Valentine 3D

 

31 Days of Horror, Tonight: The Night Stalker

 

Movie Poster Monday- The Crazies 1973

 

Halloween Shirts at Wal Mart?! Yes!

 

I am a t-shirt fanatic, it is all I ever wear and when Halloween time rolls around horror shirts are all I wear for the season.  I usually get my horror shirts from Fright-Rags but the last couple of years Wally World has had some horror shirts on the rack,  I picked up a Chucky, Jaws, and a Freddy shirt the last couple of seasons.  So I am cruising thru the men's shirts last week and came across this beauty above.  John Carpenter's Halloween poster on a shirt for $8, it's the best deal of the season already.  So to get ready for the Halloween season put on your Michael Myers mask, remember you have to wear a mask in the store anyway, and go pick up one these shirts to rock this Halloween.

New Release Tuesday

 

Breezy- A young girl tries to find her way in life, suffering from her own naivety and sincerity.  Now normally a title like this would not be on my radar but look closely at the cover and notice the ‘Directed by’ name.  Yup, Clint really was trying something different back in his Western/ Dirty Harry hey days.

Universal Horror Volume 6-I am getting caught up on these as I have thru volume 4 now.  I love these old horror flicks.  These are the kind I use to watch late at night on a black and white TV.  These look spectacular but I kind of miss them the look the old 13 inch b/w gave.  Nostalgia…

Tale from the Darkside- A young boy tells three stories of horror to distract a witch who plans to eat him.  I have never seen this and only just recently saw the George A. Romero was involved.  I might have to add this to the list.

New Release Tuesdays

 The battle continues from the home-front as I was able to escape for a few days and get up in the mountains and stare at some different walls for a few days.  It was really nice to have a change of scenery.  I see where home media sales had quite a spike in sales in the second quarter but unfortunately sales are back down this quarter because there are few new release titles for out there to buy.  Also, Disney recently said they have no plans for 4K releases for anymore of their movies besides Marvel and Star Wars titles so with that and this pandemic this may the final nails in the coffin for physical media from the studios anyway.  Niche companies will hopefully continue to license and put out movies on physical media.  Will we ever get True Lies or The Abyss on hi-def now?  Anyway there has been a nice mix of new and old stuff come out recently so let's check them out below.

War of the Worlds- A small town in California is attacked by Martians, beginning a worldwide invasion.  I have not seen this since I was a kid and it was on TV.  It is a title I have always wanted to get for the collection but had a feeling Criterion would put this out on blu one of these days and my patience has finally paid off. I picked this up from the B&N sale and I cannot wait to spin this again to rediscover its greatness.

The Day the Earth Caught Fire- When the U.S. and Russia unwittingly test atomic bombs at the same time, it alters the nutation (axis of rotation) of the Earth.  I do not recall seeing this but I have been reading a lot about this Shout Factory title and it sounds pretty solid.

Death Warrant- In a violent and corrupt prison, decorated cop Louis Burke must infiltrate the jail to find answers to a number of inside murders. What he finds is a struggle of life and death tied in to his own past.  This is a solid action flick that is fast paced being under 90 minutes with lots of ass kicking.

P.O.W. The Escape- Col. Cooper leads a group of American P.O.W.s, battling their way to freedom as Saigon falls to the Viet Cong.  This is from Cannon and is too much like Chuck Norris’ Missing in Action and Chuck Bronson did not seem to like playing in the jungle so Cannon had to find another Chuck and went with David Carradine.  He always looked cool in movie posters but when you first see him on the screen you are very under whelmed.  This was a solid action flick that has been out of print for a long time and is making its blu ray debut thru Scorpion Releasing.

Bruce Lee Set- Yeah, I have all these but Criterion always goes above and beyond so this has been ordered and received.

Mr. No Legs- Heads roll as two cops, Chuck and Andy, go against Mr. D'Angelo, the biggest drug dealer in Florida, and his ruthless enforcer Fred, who has no legs but does have two mean double barrel shotguns built into his wheelchair.  Looks too good not to watch.

Tender Mercies- A broken-down, middle-aged country singer gets a new wife, reaches out to his long-lost daughter, and tries to put his troubled life back together.  I consider Robert Duvall the best actor ever.  Back in his prime he could do it all and play practically anyone.  He is limited to his age these days but the guy is solid in everything he does.  This was a very good drama where he won the Oscar for Best Actor, highly recommended.

 

Death Before Dishonor- Gunnery Sergeant Burns reports for duty to an American Embassy in the Middle East. However due to the 'enlightened' views of the Ambassador, the marine security detachment he is in charge of is severely restricted in their functions and presence to avoid upsetting the host government. As a result, when terrorists attack the compound, they are able to kidnap hostages and escape with little opposition. Burns ignores the Ambassador's restrictions, and throws the rule books out the window, as he becomes a one man army in an attempt to rescue the hostages, and wipe out the terrorists.  I remember this from the day and I could have sworn this was a Cannon movie but it does not look like it is.  This was a solid action flick with TV’s Hunter doing a serviceable job.

The Outpost- A small team of U.S. soldiers battle against hundreds of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.  Eastwood is back, not that Eastwood, but the young one is doing well and has a good looking war movie out.