We have rounded up some of the latest horror/science fiction genre DVD & Blu-ray releases in the USA for the week beginning 25th October 2022.
THE COUNT YORGA COLLECTION (Count Yorga, Vampire, & The Return of Count Yorga)
RESTORED! REJUVENATED! REBORN!
By the end of the 1960s the boom in Old World gothic horror had begun to wane in the face of present day terrors like the Vietnam war. In response, American filmmakers brought horror out of the past and into the present, and the classic movie monsters packed their bags and headed for the New World.
Count Yorga, Vampire was among the first to successfully transpose the classic vampire, cloak and all, to a modern day setting as the Count – played unforgettably by Robert Quarry – arrives in the United States and settles in a Southern California mansion with his mysterious “brides”. A drive-in favourite from the moment it was released, a sequel soon followed. The Return of Count Yorga ups the ante and sees the sardonic Count on the streets of San Francisco, his sights set on an orphanage as a potential source of sustenance.
Director Bob Kelljan (Scream Blacula Scream) delivers a one-two punch of classic cult cinema mixing chills, thrills, style, and suspense with a knowing wit that revels in the genre trappings. Presented in all new restorations by Arrow Films from new scans of the original camera negative, The Count Yorga Collection is a full blooded feast to die for!
Out now on 2-Disc Limited Edition Blu-ray from Arrow Video
SENSELESS
After Jason storms out on his wife following a heated argument, he avoids returning home and instead hides out in the nearby woods. But something dark dwells in the forest, an evil that entices Jason at every step; an evil that has survived by stealing souls from those lost within the dark recesses of the woods – and now it’s preying on Jason’s soul to feed its unyielding hunger. Jason must come face-to-face with the manifestation of this hounding evil, as well as his own growing darkness, if he’s going to survive the night and escape being trapped in this purgatory by the thing in the forest.
Out now on Blu-ray and DVD from Rising Sun Media
NOPE
Oscar® winner Jordan Peele disrupted and redefined modern horror with Get Out and then Us. Now, he reimagines the summer movie with a new pop nightmare: the expansive horror epic, Nope. The film reunites Peele with Oscar® winner Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah), who is joined by Keke Palmer (Hustlers, Alice) and Oscar® nominee Steven Yeun (Minari, Okja) as residents in a lonely gulch of inland California who bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery. Nope, which co-stars Michael Wincott (Hitchcock, Westworld) and Brandon Perea (The OA, American Insurrection), is written and directed by Jordan Peele and is produced by Ian Cooper (Us, Candyman) and Jordan Peele for Monkeypaw Productions.
Out now on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital, Blu-ray +DVD + Digital and DVD from Studio Distribution Services
DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE
I’ll show you what horror means… growls the hideous Mr. Hyde (Fredric March) as the helpless, terrified Ivy (Miriam Hopkins) cowers on her bed. And now you’ll see too, as you watch this fully restored 1932 version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s spine-chilling masterpiece. With the inclusion of 17 minutes of previously censored material, this is the definitive Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Director Rouben Mamoulian’s choice of young, handsome Fredric March (known then as a comic actor) to play the lead raised studio hackles.
Out now on Blu-ray from Warner
THE INVITATION
After the death of her mother and having no other known relatives, Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel) takes a DNA test…and discovers a long-lost cousin she never knew she had. Invited by her newfound family to a lavish wedding in the English countryside, she’s at first seduced by the sexy aristocrat host but is soon thrust into a nightmare of survival as she uncovers twisted secrets in her family’s history and the unsettling intentions behind their sinful generosity.
Out now on Blu-ray + Digital and DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
SATAN’S LITTLE HELPER
YOU’LL LAUGH ‘TIL YOU DIE!
Nine-year-old Douglas Whooly (Alexander Brickel, PALINDROMES) is obsessed with the handheld video game “Satan’s Little Helper,” and annoyed that the attention of his big sister Jenna (Katheryn Winnick, TV’s VIKINGS and BIG SKY) is being distracted by her new boyfriend Alex (Stephen Graham). These two concerns collide on Halloween, when Douglas witnesses a serial killer in a devil mask (Joshua Annex) posing his victims like outdoor All Hallow’s Eve displays. Not comprehending how real the carnage is, Douglas becomes this Satan’s little helper–and that’s very bad news for Alex, for Douglas and Jenna’s mom Merrill (Amanda Plummer, PULP FICTION, Netflix’s RATCHED), and ultimately for their entire town. A different kind of Halloween horror film, SATAN’S LITTLE HELPER combines grisly killings with a mile-wide streak of savage humor. Written and directed by cult favorite Jeff Lieberman (SQUIRM, BLUE SUNSHINE, JUST BEFORE DAWN), it satirizes the way video games can seize hold of young minds, and is driven by the inability of Douglas (and others) to distinguish the Satan Man’s nasty crimes from All Hallow’s prankery. Featuring one of Plummer’s most eccentric performances, SATAN’S LITTLE HELPER has built a cult following on video and now makes its UNCUT high-definition Blu-ray debut, carrying a bagful of supplementary treats!
Out now on Special Edition Blu-ray from Synapse Films
THE KINDRED
ANTHONY DIDN’T ASK TO BE BROUGHT INTO THIS WORLD…
Academy Award®-winning screen legends Rod Steiger (In the Heat of the Night; Duck, You Sucker) and Kim Hunter (A Streetcar Named Desire; Planet of the Apes) star in The Kindred, a chilling tale of a genetic experiment gone wrong… very wrong! Kim Hunter is Dr. Amanda Hollins, a molecular scientist who calls on her son John (David Allen Brooks) to eliminate all evidence of her genetic experiments… most specifically her “Anthony Journals.” Dr. Philip Lloyd (Steiger), an acquaintance of Hollins who is familiar with her experiments, wants to continue her studies no matter the cost! John heads to his isolated childhood home with a group of friends to uncover his mother’s research and destroy it all. There’s something else in the house, however… something watching and waiting… a tentacled creature born from the desire to alter human evolution. It’s evil. It’s mad. It’s ready to kill! One of the best “creature features” of the 1980s, utilizing all practical special effects, The Kindred also stars Amanda Pays (TV’s The Flash, Leviathan) and Talia Balsam (TV’s Mad Men, Homeland).
Out now on Special Edition Blu-ray from Synapse Films
THE BAT
THE BAT! WHEN IT FLIES SOMEONE DIES!
The predator has steel claws and rips his victims to shreds! But who is he? Vincent Price (House of Wax, The Last Man on Earth), stars in this thriller about a downtrodden country estate that becomes the site of a horrific murder. Prolific writer/director Crane Wilbur (He Walked by Night, Crime Wave) helms this feature, with a cast that includes Agnes Moorehead (Bewitched) Gavin Gordon (Murder by Invitation) and in her last film role, Darla Hood of the Our Gang comedies. This gallery of weirdoes is guaranteed to give you the creeps. Which of them is the mysterious killer known as “The Bat?” You’ll find out soon enough. But beware – the scream you hear may be your own!
Out now on Special Edition Blu-ray and Special Edition DVD from Film Detective
HOUSE OF PSYCHOTIC WOMEN: RARITIES COLLECTION
In 2012 Kier-La Janisse published House of Psychotic Women, billed as “”an autobiographical topography of female neurosis in horror and exploitation films.”” It soon became one of the most “”vital”” (Tim Lucas, Video Watchdog) and “”astonishing”” (Daily Grindhouse) genre tomes of all time. To mark the book’s 10th anniversary, award-winning writer/programmer/filmmaker Janisse now presents four of the strongest and strangest explorations of onscreen delirium and hysteria, all on U.S. Blu-ray for the first time: Elizabeth Taylor stars in 1974’s IDENTIKIT as a woman who travels to Rome to find the most dangerous liaison. In the surreal 1986 Polish horror-comedy I LIKE BATS, a vampire discovers that love may be the cruelest curse of all. Florinda Bolkan stars in the startling 1975 amnesiac giallo FOOTPRINTS from the director of THE FIFTH CORD. And British screenwriter and radical theatre icon Jane Arden directs 1972’s harrowing THE OTHER SIDE OF THE UNDERNEATH.
Out now on 5-Disc Collector’s Edition Blu-ray from Severin
THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILMS OF RAY DENNIS STECKLER
20 RAY DENNIS STECKLER FILMS ON 10 DISCS WITH 30+ HOURS OF SPECIAL FEATURES, PLUS 100-PAGE BOOK & MORE!
SEE: The incredibly comprehensive 10-disc career spanning collection from producer/director/writer/showman/star Ray Dennis Steckler – along with noms de cinéma that included Sven Christian, Wolfgang Schmidt, Cindy Lou Sutters and Cash Flagg – “”an unheralded auteur misunderstood by the mainstream and de-legitimized by a critical community unable to appreciate his genius.”” (PopMatters)
SEE: 20 incredibly strange films – scanned in 4K/2K from the best existing 35mm/16mm vault elements, sole remaining prints and video masters – including several rarely-seen, thought-lost or never-before-on-disc, plus Special Features, audio commentaries, an all-new book and more that smashes the fun barrier!
SEE: The incredibly true story – filmed in Hallucinogenic Hypno-Vision & Terrorama! – behind one of the most incomparable, unstoppable and wildly original talents in horror, exploitation, adult film and pop culture history.
FILMS INCLUDE:
WILD GUITAR
THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE CREATURES WHO STOPPED LIVING AND BECAME MIXED-UP ZOMBIES!!?
THE THRILL KILLERS
RAT PFINK A BOO BOO
THE LEMON GROVE KIDS
BODY FEVER
SINTHIA: THE DEVIL’S DOLL
BLOOD SHACK
THE HOLLYWOOD STRANGLER MEETS THE SKID ROW SLASHER
THE LAS VEGAS SERIAL KILLER
ONE MORE TIME
… and more!
Out now on 10-Disc Collector’s Edition Blu-ray from Severin
JORDAN PEELE 3-MOVIE COLLECTION
Three-disc set includes: Get Out (2017)Comedian Jordan Peele earned an Oscar for his screenplay for his directorial debut, an unusual and topical horror tale about Chris (Daniel Kaluuya), a young African American man about to meet his white girlfriend Rose’s (Allison Williams) parents for the first time. The trip to Rose’s family estate begins with some uncomfortable racial tension, but quickly turns into a fight for survival as Chris becomes the unwilling subject of a bizarre procedure that could cost him his mind. With Bradley Whitford, Catherine Keener. 103 min. C/Rtg: R Us (2019)From “Get Out” writer and director Jordan Peele comes this effectively creepy chiller that finds Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong’o), her husband Gabe (Winston Duke), and their children (Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex) being terrorized by horrifically violent doubles of themselves. Just who are these deadly doppelgängers, and what is their mysterious connection to Adelaide’s past? Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker also star. 116 min. C/Rtg: R Nope (2022)His father unexpectedly killed by an object that mysteriously fell from the sky, OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) must now keep the family’s California ranch afloat. But OJ and his sister Em (Keke Palmer) may have even bigger problems as they team up with a tech store employee (Brandon Perea) and a veteran filmmaker (Michael Wincott) in order to prove the existence of a UFO. Steven Yeun, Keith David co-star in Jordan Peele’s clever horror/sci-fi tale. 130 min. C/Rtg: R
Out now on Blu-ray + Digital and DVD from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS
The SET-UP: Five young kinky actors and their artistic director come to a desolate and nearly forgotten burial island, complete with a morbid history of MURDER, RAPE, CURSES and DEMONS. Alan (Alan Ormsby), the brilliant but bizarre Director of the company, has brought them to this foreboding place to dabble in witchcraft; specifically to dig up a fresh corpse and use it in a ritual ceremony which is supposed to raise the dead from their graves. The PAY-OFF: It seems as though Alan has really gathered his “children” here, only to play a practical joke on them and then to party the rest of the night away. However, the joke’s on Alan. His bizarre ritual ceremony really does raise the dead from their graves… only they’re in no mood to party! NOTE: “BENJAMIN” CLARK is really “BOB” CLARK, the creative director behind the hit films PORKY’S, BLACK CHRISTMAS and A CHRISTMAS STORY among others. ALAN ORMSBY, though he turned in what has been described as “… one of the most obnoxious screen performances in history!”, has actually made a mark for himself as the screenwriter for such memorable films as MY BODYGUARD, CAT PEOPLE, KARATE KID 3 and PORKY’S 2.
Out now on 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition DVD from Vci Entertainment
HOUSE OF CLOWNS
A traveling haunted house becomes a nightmarish prison of murder for contestants who agree to participate in a contest to be locked inside overnight. Based on a real life haunted attraction in America’s midwest.
Out now on DVD from Wild Eye Releasing
DEATH TO METAL
Collector’s Edition Blu-ray packed with extras and exclusive slipcase art and folded poster. After a freak accident, a disturbed priest is transformed into a mutated killing machine on a mission to destroy any and all fans of heavy metal music. It’s up to two reluctant metalheads to send this holy monster straight back to hell.
Out now on Collector’s Edition Blu-ray and DVD from Wild Eye Releasing
THEY SEE YOU
Years ago in a small, quiet town, the disappearance of several children remains a mystery. The town is home to three brothers. When boredom and curiosity get the best of the middle brother, he talks his two brothers into stealing a strange board on Halloween from a local shop that sells odd items. A board that is rumored to be cursed. When they unlock the board’s power, they inadvertently open a gateway to another dimension summoning ghouls to their small town. Now as their friends begin to disappear and masked creatures surround them, their only chance is to find the shop owner, and learn how to close the gate again, before it is too late.
Out now on DVD from Bridgestone Multimedia Group
ESCAPE TO BLACK TREE FOREST
Two weeks after the events in “Terror at Black Tree Forest” young Mare Strode returns home from Falls City Memorial Hospital. She brutally murders her mother and “escapes” back to Black Tree Forest. There, she dons the original psycho’s outfit and continues the cycle of murder with a whole new group of adventure-seeking teens.
Out now on DVD from Wild Eye Releasing
DARK SEA / NIGHT OF THE CHUPACABRAS (Double Feature)
In Dark Sea, a strange contamination strikes a fisherman’s village, causing the fish and shellfish to mustate into creatures of insatiable bloodlust, death, and destruction. The lone Albino risks his life and his soul for the love of his life in a desperate fight for survival against the rampaging creatures in this over-the-top homage to Roger Corman’s Humanoids from the Deep. Night Of The Chupacabras is a horror take on the Spaghetti Western. A feud between two families, the Silvas and the Carvalhos, provides the perfect distraction to camouflage the attacks of a bloodthirsty Chupacabra. As the familial rivals engage in combat against the sinister creature, plenty of gore is let loose as the Chupacabra leaves a trails of bloody victims in its splatter-soaked wake.
Out now on Blu-ray and DVD from Rising Sun Media
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
A ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the East Coast of the United States.
Out now on DVD from Wownow Entertainment
THE BLACK FABLES / DARK SWAMP (Double Feature)
A double feature of Brazilian horror films! In The Black Fables, a group of kids embark on a macabre adventure populated with supernatural characters of Brazilian horror culture — the werewolf, the witch, the ghost, the demonic monster, and a creature called the Saci. Directed and written by the biggest names in Brazilian horror: Rodrigo Aragon, Petter Baiestorf, Joel Caetano. Dark Swamp is the story of Luiz, a shy young man from a rural community, who has long yearned to declare his love for Raquel, a beautiful girl who is sought after by several other men in the region. But when strange events begin to change the face of that isolated world, terrible creatures emerge from the bowels of the mangrove, driven only to devour human flesh. Now Luiz must fight against the onslaught of swamp zombies if he’s going to save the love of his life.
Out now on Blu-ray and DVD from Rising Sun Media
VAMPYRZ ON A BOAT
Mystery man Max boards a boat crawling with bloodthirsty vampires that can appear and disappear at will. As he fights to save the life of the woman he loves, Max finds himself stuck in a bizarre cosmic time loop.
Out now on DVD from Random Media
Disclaimer:
By clicking the links and buying any items in this article you are helping support this website.
Thank you for your support.