This week’s horror 4K, Blu-ray and DVD releases!
The Awakening (1980) (Import) Available August 6
An archaeologist is in Egypt with his pregnant wife searching for the tomb of Queen Kara. As he opens it’s cursed seal, his wife gives birth. Later it transpires that Kara’s evil spirit left the tomb and possessed the baby. Now a teenager, she’s caused several deaths and her father must destroy her before it’s too late. Based on Bram Stoker’s novel The Jewel of Seven Stars and starring Charlton Heston, Susannah York, Jill Townsend, and Stephanie Zimbalist.
STARRING: Charlton Heston, Susannah York, Jill Townsend, Stephanie Zimbalist, Patrick Drury
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Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981) (AKA Night Warning) (Special Edition) Available August 3
Terror begins when a night of murder and bloodshed leads bigoted police detective Joe Carlson (Bo Svenson, Walking Tall Part 2, Choke Canyon, Breaking Point) to try to frame orphaned high school basketball player Billy Lynch (Jimmy McNichol, Escape From El Diablo). However, Billy’s aunt Cheryl (Susan Tyrrell, Fat City, Forbidden Zone) is the real knife-wielding culprit, and with Billy about to graduate, her twisted urge to keep him all to herself is about to erupt in a wave of carnage. No one is safe when an unstable lawman and a psychotic aunt converge in a shocking climax you’ll never forget! Julia Duffy (TV’s “Newhart”) and Bill Paxton (Aliens, Mortuary) co-star in this cult shocker directed by TV great William Asher (Johnny Cool). Now see this cutting-edge thriller in HD from a 2k scan from the original camera negatives!
STARRING: Jimmy McNichol, Susan Tyrrell, Bo Svenson, Marcia Lewis, Julia Duffy
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The Daimajin Trilogy (3-Disc Limited Edition) Available August 3
THE ANCIENT GOD DAIMAJIN ARISES!
The Daimajin Trilogy saw Daieis Kyoto studios bringing its own iconic movie monster to life in a unique but short-lived series that transplants the Golem legend to Japans Warring States period of the late-16th century.
In Daimajin, directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda (Yokai Monsters, Zatoichi on the Road), the young son and daughter of the benevolent feudal lord Hanabusa flee to the mountains when their parents are slain by the treacherous usurper Odate. Ten years later, when the elderly priestess who has harbored them is also murdered, the rage of the slumbering ancient god that lies beneath the crumbling giant stone idol hidden deep in the forests in the mountains is invoked. In Return of Daimajin, Kenji Misumi (Tale of Zatoichi, Lone Wolf and Cub) brings his usual stylistic flourish, as the wrathful deity is roused from his new home on an island in the middle of a lake by the violent incursions of a vicious warlord. In the final film, Wrath of Daimajin, by veteran jidaigeki director Kazuo Mori, four young boys make a perilous trip to elicit the help of the ancient mountain god in freeing their family members who have been enslaved by a tyrannical lord.
Remarkably overlooked in the West, these three thrilling tales of feudal oppression and divine retribution meted out by the iconic stone warrior of the title combine lavish period detail with jaw-dropping special effects.
STARRING: Miwa Takada, Yoshihiko Aoyama, Kojiro Hongo, Shiho Fujimura, Hideki Ninomiya
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Dead Again (2021) Available August 3
In rural village where crime is non existent, a police sergeant is retiring out of boredom. On the day he is sent a young recruit fresh out of police academy, all hell is breaks loose with both officiers fighting for survival.
STARRING: Elliot Cable, Tony Fadil, Mark Wingett
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The Dead Zone (1983) (Import) Available August 6
Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) wakes from a coma due to a car accident, only to find he has lost five years of his life, and yet gained psychic powers. Foreseeing the future appears to be a ‘gift’ at first, but ends up causing problems. The Dead Zone is based on a novel by Stephen King, directed by David Cronenberg (Scanners, The Fly) and produced by Debra Hill (Halloween, The Fog).
STARRING: Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom, Anthony Zerbe
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Drive-In Delirium (The Ultimate Dusk to Dawn to Dusk Trailer Marathon ) (Import) Available August 6
The Ultimate Dusk Till Dawn Till Dusk Trailer Marathon! More than 30 hours of horror, action, sci-fi + T&A trailers, uncensored and remastered in high definition! The ultimate mausoleum of movie madness has been desecrated unleashing an eye-popping, jaw-dropping, mind-numbing, skull-splitting and trouser-bulging jumbo-sized serving of delightfully depraved & garishly gory trailer trash! The Drive-In Delirium: Dusk-Till-Sawn-Till-Dusk Collection is a full-frontal, high-def assault on your mental tolerance for sex, violence, vehicular destruction, monsters & mayhem – not to mention a non-stop 30+ hour body & breast count. Buckle up! 942 theatrical trailers remastered in high definition! Plus poster galleries & VHS Delirium bonus SD trailer compiles.
STARRING: Various
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Hammer Horror (Four Gothic Horror Films) (8/6) (Import) Available August 3
Five-disc set includes: Twins Of Evil (1971)It’s twice the terror-and twice the titillation-when two beautiful orphan sisters in 19th-century Europe are sent to live with their uncle, the leader of a witch-hunting cabal. Things get nasty after a local count falls victim to a family curse and becomes a vampire who sets his sights on the siblings. Hammer’s final entry in it’s “Karnstein” trilogy of erotic shockers stars Peter Cushing, Damien Thomas, and Playboy centerfolds Mary and Madeleine Collinson. 87 min. C/Rtg: NR Hands Of The Ripper (1971)A young prostitute (Angharad Rees) is haunted by violent dreams years after witnessing the killing of her mother. First exploited by a fraudulent psychic and then examined by a skilled physician after a séance ends in a mysterious murder, she grows fearful she may be a maniacal killer just like her late father… Jack the Ripper! Shocking Hammer Films horror trip co-stars Jane Merrow, Eric Porter, and Derek Godfrey. 85 min. C/Rtg: R Countess Dracula (1971)In medieval Europe, an aging noblewoman desperately seeks to regain her youth. Discovering that bathing in the blood of virgins temporarily erases the ravages of time, she embarks on a ruthless killing spree. Loosely based on the real-life exploits of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, this sensual, sanguinary shocker from Hammer stars Ingrid Pitt, Nigel Greene, and Lesley-Anne Down. 93 min. C/Rtg: PG Vampire Circus (1972)The arrival of a travelling circus in a plague-ravaged village in 1800s Europe would, one would think, offer the townspeople some distraction from their troubles. But there’s a reason this big top only goes up at night, as the undead, shape-changing performers turn the village into a three-ring bloodbath. Eerie Hammer horror opus stars Robert Tayman, Laurence Payne, Lynne Frederick; look for David Prowse (“Star Wars”) as the strongman. 87 min. C/Rtg: NR Flesh & Blood: The Hammer Heritage Of Horror (1994)The British film studio that brought blood to the big screen and revolutionized the horror genre is saluted in a spine-chilling chronicle. Hosts Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee take you through the history of Hammer Films, from backstage battles to censorship problems. Clips from such Hammer classics as “Horror of Dracula,” “Curse of Frankenstein,” “The Devil Rides Out,” “Quatermass and the Pit” and more are featured, along with interviews with Cushing, Lee, Raquel Welch and others. Director’s cut; 148 min. BW&C/Rtg: NR Widescreen; Soundtrack: English LPCM mono; Subtitles: English; featurettes; documentaries; photo gallery; TV spots; theatrical trailer; more. Region Free
STARRING: Various
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Haunted (1995) (Import) Available August 6
On an isolated estate on the English countryside in 1928, American professor and parapsychology expert David Ash (Aidan Quinn) arrives to investigate-and likely disprove-a supposed haunting. But David finds his skepticism challenged as a series of eerie occurrences leads him to study the estate’s family history… and confront a horrific and traumatic event from his own past. Creepy chiller co-stars Kate Beckinsale, Anthony Andrews, Anna Massey, and John Gielgud. 108 min. Widescreen; Soundtrack: English LPCM stereo; Subtitles: English; audio commentary; interviews; “making of” documentary; photo gallery; theatrical trailer. Region Free
STARRING: Aidan Quinn, Kate Beckinsale, Anthony Andrews, John Gielgud, Anna Massey
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It Wants Blood (2019) Available August 3
Two giant monsters are forced to battle head to screaming head on the political circuit as they run against each other for a seat as a senator. But the unsuspecting public doesn’t realize there are actually creatures that each running mate owns, feasting on helpless, big-breasted, quivering-lipped women and charity-thieving priests. The perils of politics never involved two enormous behemoths fighting to the death…until now! You’ll be on the edge of your seat watching fangs feasting on heaps of flesh as beautiful babes are fed to the beasts in “It Wants Blood!”
STARRING: James Balsamo, Eric Roberts, Amy “Lita” Dumas, Steve Railsback, Ola Ray
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Lucky (2020) Available August 3
A suburban woman fights to be believed as she finds herself stalked by a threatening figure who returns to her house night after night. When she can’t get help from those around her, she is forced to take matters into her own hands.
STARRING: Brea Grant, Dhruv Uday Singh, Hunter C. Smith
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Night Feeder (1988) (Limited edition, only 1000 will be sold) Available August 3
Rising fear chokes the free-wheeling underbelly of San Francisco’s Music/Art/Drug/Punk scene as a killer stalks the night to feed an unspeakable appetite. Community suspicion focuses on the punk band Disease, tainted by groupie deaths allegedly induced by the drug DZS, and on “The Creeper”, a misshapen outcast from the bowels of the city. Investigation becomes obsession for the strong and beautiful female journalist Jean Michaelson when she probes the gruesome murders with police Inspector Alonso Bernardo. Her story hits closer to home than ever she imagined, as the quickening web of death devours neighbors, friends and lovers in her neighborhood of artist warehouses. The film plays as a mystery, as Jean, the Inspector and the community try to unravel clues to find who is responsible for the grisly murders. The story and characters interweave live New Wave/Punk music, sex, drugs and the urban environs of a 1980’s Bay Area leather-clad milieu. Retro at its best!
STARRING: Kate Alexander
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Séance (2021) Available August 3
Camille, a young woman who arrives at the Fairfield Academy following one of the student’s untimely and violent death.
STARRING: Suki Waterhouse, Inanna Sarkis, Madisen Beaty, Ella-Rae Smith
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The Sergio Martino Collection (3-Disc Special Edition) Available August 3
One of Italian cinema’s most celebrated and prolific filmmakers, Sergio Martino worked across a range of genres, but is arguably best known for his giallo thrillers. This collection brings together three of his finest.
In The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail, recently widowed Lisa Baumer is summoned to Athens to collect her husband’s generous life insurance policy, but soon discovers others are willing to kill to get their hands on it. In the Edgar Allan Poe-inspired Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, abrasive drunk Oliviero amuses himself by holding drunken orgies and abusing his long-suffering wife… but when a series of grisly murders shakes the local community, Oliviero finds himself in the frame. Finally, The Suspicious Death of a Minor combines giallo and crime thriller tropes as undercover cop Paolo pursues the Milanese criminal outfit responsible for the brutal murder of an underage prostitute, but finds himself up against a killer-for-hire who’s bumping off witnesses before they have a chance to talk.
Featuring sensational casts of genre stalwarts, including Edwige Fenech, George Hilton, Anita Strindberg and Luigi Pistilli, with scripts by giallo master Ernesto Gastaldi and sensuous scores by maestro Bruno Nicolai, this is an essential collection for any Italian cult cinema fan.
STARRING: Edwige Fenech, George Hilton, Mel Ferrer, Anita Strindberg
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Sometimes They Come Back…For More (1998) (8/6) (Import) Available August 3
On a arctic circle radio shack, an ancient evil lurks, ready to strike at a psychologist, an army man and their collective forces.
STARRING: Clayton Rohner, Damian Chapa, Chase Masterson, Faith Ford, Max Perlich
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Tailgate (2019) Available August 3
When a cocksure, road-raging man driving cross-country with his family tailgates the wrong van, a simple road trip turns into a deadly obstacle course, as he realizes they are being pursued and terrorized by the van’s vengeful driver.
STARRING: Jeroen Spitzenberger, Anniek Pheifer, Willem de Wolf
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The Unthinkable (2018) Available August 3
Sweden is under attack by an unknown force. In the midst of this crisis, Alex is forced back to his childhood village to arrange the funeral of his mother. There, he must reconcile with both his father and his old flame, Anna. As old feelings come back to the surface, more mysterious attacks plunge Sweden into chaos and confusion.
STARRING: Christoffer Nordenrot, Lisa Henni