This week’s horror 4K, Blu-ray and DVD releases!
The Addams Family (1991) (4K Ultra HD) Available November 23
Con artists plan to fleece an eccentric family using an accomplice who claims to be their long-lost uncle.
STARRING: Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, Dan Hedaya, Elizabeth Wilson
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The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) Available November 23
In 1970, young first-time director Dario Argento (Deep Red, Suspiria) made his indelible mark on Italian cinema with The Bird with the Crystal Plumage – a film which redefined the ‘giallo’ genre of murder-mystery thrillers and catapulted him to international stardom.
Sam Dalmas (Tony Musante, We Own the Night), an American writer living in Rome, inadvertently witnesses a brutal attack on a woman (Eva Renzi, Funeral in Berlin) in a modern art gallery. Powerless to help, he grows increasingly obsessed with the incident. Convinced that something he saw that night holds the key to identifying the maniac terrorising Rome, he launches his own investigation parallel to that of the police, heedless of the danger to both himself and his girlfriend Giulia (Suzy Kendall, Spasmo)…
STARRING: Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Enrico Maria Salerno
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Body Parts (1991) (Import) Available November 26
Where does evil live, the heart, the mind or the flesh? Body Parts is a bone-chilling tale about a medical experiment gone wrong. After a crime psychologist (Fahey) loses his arm and nearly his life in a grisly car accident, he undergoes a daring medical operation to have a donor arm grafted onto his body. But after the operation, the arm starts to take on a violent life of it’s own, striking out against Bill’s wife and children. Bill is driven to learn about the donor’s identity – a horrifying discovery that delivers him into a world of unimaginable terror. Eric Red’s underrated 90s horror macabre is overdue for reappraisal. Special Features and Technical Specs: 1080p High definition presentation; NEW Audio Commentary with film historian Lee Gambin; Audio Commentary by director Eric Red; Interview with Co-Writer/Director Eric Red; Interview with Editor Anthony Redman; Interview with Actor Paul Ben-Victor; Interview with Actor Peter Murnik; Deleted Footage (with optional commentary by Eric Red); LPCM 2.0 audio; Original aspect ratio 2.35:1; Theatrical Trailer; Optional English subtitles; Limited Edition slipcase on the first 2000 copies with unique artwork.
STARRING: Lindsay Duncan, Brad Dourif, Jeff Fahey, Zakes Mokae
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C.H.U.D. (1984) Available November 23
THEY’RE NOT STAYING DOWN THERE, ANYMORE!
From the subterranean depths it crawls! Director Douglas Cheek’s cult ’80s favorite C.H.U.D. is the ultimate underground movie experience. In downtown Manhattan, a police captain’s hunt for his missing wife uncovers a series of mysterious disappearances in the area. Extending his search into the tunnels and sewers below, it soon becomes clear that something monstrous lurks beneath the city streets – and it’s not staying down there much longer! Starring John Heard (Cat People) and Daniel Stern (City Slickers, Home Alone) alongside an early appearance from John Goodman, C.H.U.D. finally lurches back onto the streets and is sure to delight the most discriminating of creature feature fans!
STARRING: John Heard, Daniel Stern, Christopher Curry
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The Cat O Nine Tails (1971) (Standard Special Edition – 4K Ultra HD) Available November 23
Following the success of his debut feature, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, distributor Titanus tasked writer/director Dario Argento with delivering a follow-up in short order. The resulting film, granted a greatly enhanced budget and heralded in its US marketing campaign as “nine times more suspenseful” than its predecessor, was The Cat O’ Nine Tails.
When a break-in occurs at a secretive genetics institute, blind puzzle-maker Franco Arnò (Karl Malden, Patton, One-Eyed Jacks), who overheard an attempt to blackmail one of the institute’s scientists shortly before the robbery, teams up with intrepid reporter Carlo Giordani (James Franciscus, Beneath the Planet of the Apes) to crack the case. But before long the bodies begin to pile up and the two amateur sleuths find their own lives imperiled in their search for the truth. And worse still, Lori (Cinzia De Carolis, Cannibal Apocalypse), Franco’s young niece, may also be in the killer’s sights…
This second entry in the so-called “Animal Trilogy” found Argento further refining his distinctive style and cementing his reputation as the master of the giallo thriller. Co-starring Catherine Spaak (Il Sorpasso) and Rada Rassimov (Baron Blood), and featuring another nerve-jangling score by the great Ennio Morricone (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly), The Cat O’ Nine Tails remains one of Argento’s most suspenseful and underrated films.
STARRING: Karl Malden, James Franciscus, CatherineSpaak, Cinzia de Carolis, Carlo Alighiero
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Chupa (2000) Available November 23
After making his mark as a screen actor in a series of shot-on-video movies for J.R. Bookwalter (“The Dead Next Door”), independent writer/ producer Tom Hoover embarked on his first feature in the director’s chair. The result was “Chupa,” an “X-Files” style, conspiracy-minded creature feature conceived after starring in “Polymorph” (1996), which would take four long, grueling years to complete — only to wind up gathering dust on a shelf, unreleased for over two decades. Something in the woods is feeding on people, bleeding them dry. What little evidence there is suggests it may be the work of the Chupacabra, a creature most believe to be little more than urban legend. According to folklore, Chupa kills small livestock, living off their blood. But why has it started preying on people? To answer that question, a small Federal, military, and civilian task force has been sent deep into Ohio’s expansive Cuyahoga Valley National Park to find and capture the mythical monster. But it won’t be taken without a fight, and as the hunters quickly become the hunted, they soon realize their “Chupa” may be something else altogether. Something that feeds in secret has started feeding… on them! Newly restored from the original Digital Betacam videotape edit master, Tempe Digital resurrects the lost late-‘90s SOV opus “Chupa” on Blu-ray with all-new, revealing behind-the-scenes bonus material!
STARRING: Various
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Hall (2020) Available November 23
A Hotel hallway is ravaged by a mysterious virus forcing pregnant tourist Naomi to crawl her way past other victims, crossing paths with Val – a mother separated from her daughter.
STARRING: Carolina Bartczak, Yumiko Shaku, Julian Richings, Bailey Thain, Mark Gibson
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Here Be Dragons / Suburban Coffin (Double Feature) Available November 23
A retro-style double feature featuring a tense crime drama and a bizarre comedy/fantasy/horror tale!! Here Be Dragons: An organized gang terrorizes their victims by forcing them to perform humiliating acts on camera, which are released online. Anna and Sam’s lives are forever altered after becoming involved in the world of crime. Suburban Coffin: The Devil, disguised as an insurance salesman, appears in the suburbs of London.
STARRING: Karl Frederick Hiemeyer, Edie Newman, Alastdair Melrose, Angie Adler
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The Hills Have Eyes (1977) (Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD) Available November 23
THE LUCKY ONES DIED FIRST…
Horror master Wes Craven achieved critical and commercial success with the likes of Scream and A Nightmare on Elm Street – but for many genre fans, the director’s seminal 1977 effort The Hills Have Eyes remains his masterpiece.
Taking an ill-advised detour en route to California, the Carter family soon run into trouble when their campervan breaks down in the middle of the desert. Stranded, the family find themselves at the mercy of a group of monstrous cannibals lurking in the surrounding hills. With their lives under threat, the Carters have no choice but to fight back by any means necessary.
Following on from his notorious 1972 directorial debut The Last House on the Left, Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes stands alongside the likes of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Night of the Living Dead as one of the defining classics of American horror.
STARRING: Dee Wallace, Michael Berryman, John Steadman, Peter Locke, Russ Grieve
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Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) Available November 23
From acclaimed filmmaker Philip Kaufman (The Wanderers) comes this chilling ’70s adaptation of Jack Finney’s classic novel The Body Snatchers. Filmy spores fall from space over San Francisco, and the city blossoms with beautiful new flora. People take the flowers home and, as they sleep, the plants creep over them, devouring their bodies and stealing their identities—their emotions, their uniqueness, their souls. If you notice an eerie change in someone very close to you, chances are you’re next! More than just a highly effective sci-fi thriller, Invasion of the Body Snatchers treats contemporary problems of urban paranoia and loss of individuality with intelligence and sensitivity… and ends with the single most horrifying frame in movies. Featuring a brilliant screenplay by W.D. Richter (Big Trouble in Little China), gritty camerawork by Michael Chapman (Raging Bull) and awe-inspiring special effects, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a pulse-pounding shocker with wonderful performances by Donald Sutherland (The Puppet Masters), Brooke Adams (The Dead Zone), Leonard Nimoy (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan), Jeff Goldblum (The Fly) and Veronica Cartwright (Alien).
STARRING: Donald Sutherland, Leonard Nimoy, Brooke Adams, Veronica Cartwright, Jeff Goldblum
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Lair (2021) Available November 23
When Ben Dollarhyde is accused of murder, saying he was possessed by a demonic force, Steven Caramore investigates his friend’s claims, setting off a chain of events that forces a young family into a terrifying battle for survival.
STARRING: Corey Johnson, Oded Fehr, Anya Newall, Alexandra Gilbreath, Aislinn De’ath
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Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971) (Import) Available November 26
After being released from an institution, a young woman (Zohra Lampert) is brought by her husband (Barton Heyman) to a Connecticut farmhouse for a therapeutic change of scenery. However, starting with the odd young woman (Mariclare Costello) they find squatting within-and allow to stay-disturbing phenomena crop up that threaten to break her tenuous grip on sanity. Kevin O’Connor, Alan Manson co-star in this chiller directed by John Hancock (“Bang the Drum Slowly”). 88 min. Widescreen; Soundtrack: English LPCM stereo; Subtitles: English; audio commentary; interviews; featurette; TV spots; radio spots. Region Free
STARRING: Zohra Lampert, Barton Heyman, Kevin O’Connor, Gretchen Corbett, Alan Manson
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The Lockdown Hauntings (2021) Available November 23
In lockdown, the ghost of a notorious serial killer is back prowling for young women isolated and alone. Can paranormal experts and detectives prevent more terrorised young women from becoming further victims of The Lockdown Hauntings?
STARRING: Tony Todd, Angela Dixon, Heather Peace
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The Medusa Touch (1978) (11/26) (Import) Available November 23
Bludgeoned by an unknown assailant, popular novelist John Morlar (Richard Burton) lies comatose in a London hospital. Investigating detective Brunel (Lino Ventura) learns that Morlar believed that he had incredible telekinetic powers. A madman’s delusion? As the world is rocked by a string of inexplicable disasters, the detective starts having his doubts! Fantastic chiller from Peter Van Greenaway’s novel co-stars Lee Remick, Harry Andrews. 109 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtrack: English LPCM stereo; Subtitles: English; audio commentary; visual essy; theatrical trailer. Region Free.
STARRING: Richard Burton, Lino Ventura, Lee Remick, Harry Andrews, Marie-Christine Barrault
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The Mutation (2021) Available November 23
After a deadly experiment on a rat goes wrong, the mutated rat has been let loose in a city and a group of detectives are on the hunt for the beast. As the body count rises, no one is safe, and the rat is growing at a rapid pace!
STARRING: Ricardo Freitas, Amanda-Jade Tyler, Abi Casson Thompson, James Robertson
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“Night Gallery” Season 1 Available November 23
Prepare for the chill of a lifetime as the master of suspense, Rod Serling (The Twilight Zone), hosts every spine-tingling episode from the complete first season of Night Gallery. Thrill to stories performed by Hollywood greats including Joan Crawford, Ossie Davis, Larry Hagman, Diane Keaton, Roddy McDowall, Burgess Meredith and Agnes Moorehead, and directed by cinematic masters like Steven Spielberg (Jaws) in this unforgettable series—available for the first time in HD, from 2K scans of the interpositives! Night Gallery: Season 1 also features top-notch direction by acclaimed filmmakers Daryl Duke (The Silent Partner), Boris Sagal (The Omega Man), Barry Shear (Across 110th Street), Jeannot Szwarc (Jaws 2), Don Taylor (The Island of Dr. Moreau) with wonderful performances by John Astin, Diane Baker, Martine Beswick, Tom Bosley, Jack Cassidy, Godfrey Cambridge, Bert Convy, Phyllis Diller, Louis Hayward, George Macready, Raymond Massey, Joanna Pettet, John Randolph, Barry Sullivan, Torin Thatcher, William Windom & many others.
STARRING: Rod Serling, Joan Crawford, Roddy McDowall
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Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge (1989) (2-Disc Limited Edition) Available November 23
With numerous interpretations of Gaston Leroux’s classic novel The Phantom of the Opera having been turned out over the years, it was only a matter of time before the slasher genre decided to take a stab at the tale – step forward 1989’s Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge!
High school sweethearts Eric Matthews and Melody Austin are so in love, but their youthful romance is cut tragically short when Eric apparently dies in a fire that engulfs his family home. One year later and Melody is trying to move on with her life, taking up a job at the newly built Midwood Mall along with her friends. But the mall, which stands on the very site of Eric’s former home, has an uninvited guest – a shadowy, scarred figure which haunts its airducts and subterranean passageways, hellbent on exacting vengeance on the mall’s crooked developers.
Directed by Richard Friedman (Scared Stiff, Doom Asylum), and featuring star turns from Pauly Shore and Morgan Fairchild, Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge swoops onto Blu-ray in an extras-packed edition which proves that Arrow Video’s love for ’80s slasher fare never dies!
STARRING: Derek Rydall, Pauly Shore, Ken Foree, Rob Estes, Morgan Fairchild
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The Snake Girl and the Silver Haired Witch (1968) (Special Edition) Available November 23
What do you get when Noriaki Yuasa, director of Daiei Studios’ much-beloved Gamera series, makes a monochrome film adaptation of the works of horror manga pioneer Kazuo Umezu (The Drifting Classroom)? The answer is 1968’s The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch, a fantastically phantasmagorical slice of twisted tokusatsu terror ostensibly made for children that will irreparably traumatize any child that sees it!
A young girl named Sayuri is reunited with her estranged family after years in an orphanage – but trouble lurks within the walls of the large family home. Her mother is an amnesiac after a car accident six months earlier, her sullen sister is confined to the attic and a young housemaid dies inexplicably of a heart attack just before Sayuri arrives… is it all connected to her father’s work studying venomous snakes? And is the fanged, serpentine figure that haunts Sayuri’s dreams the same one spying on her through holes in the wall?
Making its worldwide Blu-ray debut and its home video premiere outside Japan, this rarely-screened, nightmarishly disorienting creepshow not only displays a seldom-seen side of kaiju auteur Yuasa, but its skilful blending of Umezu’s comics (published in English-language markets as Reptilia) arguably anticipates many of the trends seen in J-horror decades later.
STARRING: Yûko Hamada, Kazuo Umezu, Mariko Fukuhara, Kuniko Miyake, Mayumi Takahashi
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Tam Lin (aka The Devil’s Widow) (1970) (11/26) (Import) Available November 23
She drained them of their manhood – and then of their LIVES! Legendary Hollywood goddess, Ava Gardner (One Touch of Venus) delivers a mesmerizing performance in director Roddy McDowall’s wickedly suspenseful tale of decadent young thrill-seekers and the sinister seductress who holds them spellbound. The top-notch cast includes Stephanie Beacham (TV’s The Colbys, Dynasty), Cyril Cusack (Fahrenheit 451), Richard Wattis (The Importance of Being Earnest) and Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous). Acting great Roddy McDowall’s one and only directorial effort. Beautifully shot in scope by Billy Williams (Gandhi). Special Features and Technical Specs: 1080p High definition presentation; NEW Audio Commentary from author and journalist Dr Adam Scovell; NEW Audio Commentary with film historians Vic Pratt and Will Fowler; NEW Interview with Ian McShane; NEW Interview with Stephanie Beacham; NEW Interview with Cinematographer Billy Williams; NEW “”Tam Lin & the representations of the witch in film”” Visual Essay from author Kat Ellinger; More extras to be announced!; Introduction by Director Roddy McDowall; LPCM 1.0 audio; Aspect Ratio 2.35:1; Trailer; English subtitles; Limited Edition slipcase on the first 2000 copies with unique artwork.
STARRING: Ava Gardner, Ian McShane, Stephanie Beacham, Cyril Cusack, Richard Wattis