DVDs Boo A Halloween Roundup of Scary New DVDs

SEO TEXT: Article Content for Search Engines

DVDs: Boo! A Halloween Roundup ofScary New DVDs and BluRays When Halloween rolls around, you probably have some of your favorite scary movies already in your library. Here's a roundup of new releases: spruced up editions of classicsand new ones hoping to join them in your Halloween queue. THE VINCENT PRICE COLLECTION($79.99 BluRay; Scream Factory/MGM) --Vincent Price became inextricably tied to horror films, much to this fine, versatile actor's dismay. Nonetheless, his loss in terms of partsand versatility was horror's gain. That wasnever clearer than in his collaboration withRoger Corman and others on tales by EdgarAllan Poe and other creepy gems. Here we havesix films in all, appearing on BluRay for thefirst time and collecting some of the best horrorwork of his career. It contains four Poe films:The Pit & The Pendulum, The Fall Of TheHouse Of Usher , The Haunted Palace (from a poem) and The Masque Of The Red Death. All are among the best work Corman ever did, soit's no surprise he can be heard on audio commentary or interviews on all four. The Abominable Dr. Phibes has Price squaring off memorably with the great Joseph Cotten (who clearly wondered what had happened to hiscareer in 1971 just as Price had resigned himself with grace to his fate). Finally, a real gemis The Witchfinder General aka Conqueror Worm . Whatever title it's marketed under, it's rather misleading since this is actually a sober historical film based on the true story of awitch finder in the era of Cromwell; Price does some of his best work in this 1968 gem, agreat example of how he elevated work both serious and silly. Price can be seen offeringintroductions to five of the films and there's also a nice booklet on the movies. AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM ($59.99 BluRay; FOX) -- So if you really want your creeps to be extended, how better thanthis TV series/miniseries? Each season providesits own self-contained horror story. Season Twocenters on an asylum for the criminally insane.Steely nun in charge? Check. Demons? Check.Aliens? Why not? Nutjobs who like to wearhuman flesh? Of course. The exceptional cast isled by Emmy winner Jessica Lange as the nun,along with Zachary Quinto, Sarah Paulson andJames Cromwell. TV was rarely conducive tohorror in the past but AHS and The Walking Dead are changing that, perhaps for good. THE UNINVITED($29.99 BluRay;Criterion) -- I tend toMay 15, 2014 This is the print preview: Back to normal view » Posted: 10/29/2013 3:52 pmprefer my horror with more creepiness thangore. So thisHollywood gem from1944 is right up myalley: Ray Milland andRuth Hussey are siblings who find a bargain of a home...complete with a ghost. It was notable for being a major studio release that tackled the haunted house genre without condescension or laughs. And there's a great, great Victor Young score to boot. The extras are modest butyou can turn out the lights and listen to two radio adaptations of this story that alsostarred Milland, one from 1944 and another from 1949. THE CONJURING ($35.99 BuRay combo; Warner Bros.) -- I've no idea how actor PatrickWilson became the king of horror. But here heis starring in a second likely franchise afterInsidious . Strike that -- given its box office, The Conjuring is a definite franchise. Both horror tales were directed by James Wan of Saw fame (or infamy). Here the emphasis is on spookinessrather than imaginative gore as Wilson andwife Vera Farmiga. They play paranormalinvestigators who descent onto an isolatedfarmhouse to try and rescue a family thatclaims it is plagued by a menacing aura of evil.Guess what? They weren't lying. You'll jump a few times but this is strictly for people who want to clutch their movie watchingcompanion's arm. If you want genuine mayhem, go elsewhere. MANIAC ($29.99 BluRay; IFC) -- This remake of the 1980 slasher film looks to redeem thatfilm's brutal tone with added psychologicalinsight and character depth. But all that stayswith you is the sight of Elijah Wood goingbatshit crazy. When he brandishes a knife eitheryou laugh or cry or do a little bit of both.KINDRED THE EMBRACED -- COMPLETE SERIES ($39.99 DVD; CBS/Paramount) -- Proving that literally every TV series has a fanbase of some sort (especially when it involves horror), this 1996 show lasted just eight episodes. But here itis enshrined in a rather nice boxed set including bonus features like a limited edition BookOf Nod, which will perhaps excite fans of the show though not necessarily fans of the role-playing game on which it was very loosely based. It's the 1990s and where better forvarious clans of vampires to live and battle each other than San Francisco? People in thattown would barely notice. The pilot is godawful but essential for figuring out who is who -- the vampires can turn into wolves (huh?) and each clan has a particular bent, like nightclubs or business. A mortal cop and journalist are caught up in all the bloodlettingalmost immediately. Fans insist the show quickly found its ground but it was gone beforeanyone else could discover it. So despite countless classic TV shows remaining MIA, thisgets a nice set to preserve it. Sometimes, it's not so bad being a vampire. AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: WAR OF THEWORLDS ($24.99 DVD; PBS) -- I love the cover art of this PBS documentary about whatreally happened the night Orson Welles broadcast his radio adaptation of the HG Wells novel The War Of The Worlds on October 30, 1938. It was indeed mass hysteria, enough toget ABC to dramatize the event in a TV movieback in 1975. Was it the Great Depression, thethreat of war in Europe, the clever use of aradio news broadcast as a way to tell the story?Whatever the reason, it was remarkablyeffective and is surely the most famousHalloween-related stunt in radio history. Thisone hour documentary covers the story well.But it lacks the one essential extra that would make this DVD a must buy: the complete original radio broadcast that sparked theoutrage. NOSFERATU DELUXE REMASTERED EDITION ($29.99 DVD; Kino) -- It doesn't get much creepier than F.W. Murnau's great 1922vampire movie Nosferatu . I recently watched a screening of the Bela Lugosi Dracula with a new Philip Glass score. It was a great eveningbut I was reminded afresh of how campy anddated the Lugois original is (as opposed to say Frankenstein , which still retains its power). In contrast, the brilliant lighting and sets of thisversion combined with the one-off bizarregenius of actor Max Schreck as the titlecreature remains utterly hypnotic. It's beenpackaged and repackaged. If you don't own it,by all means get this latest remastering. If you do own it, i don't think it's such a tremendous leap forward that you must buy it again. Thebountiful extras include both English orGerman intertitles, a 52 minute documentary about Murnau and the making of this film and excerpts from eight other Murnau flms. Ifyou're really feeling ambitious, you can follow up a screening by reading Jim Shepard'snovel Nosferatu , which tackles Murnau's biography and the making of the film to boot. IN THE FLESH ($19.99 DVD; BBC) -- Can't get enough of zombie-themed stories? You're in luck. Whereas Warm Hearts was a romantic comedy spin on zombies, the British miniseriesIn The Flesh is a very sober and serious drama about what it would actually be like to getraised from the dead. In this intriguingpremise, a teenager commits suicide only tofind himself one of the undead. Four yearslater, after rampaging about in zombie fashion,getting captured by the government andrehabilitated, he is being mainstreamed backinto society. What would it really be like tocome back from the dead? How haunted would you be by the acts of horrific violence you committed in your zombie state? How wouldfriends and family treat you? That's the focus ofthis drama which is low on brain eating andhigh on contemplating such moral dilemmas. It can be seen as an allegory about race or sexuality...or you can just enjoy it as a film abouta zombie with a conscience. A second season is in the works. EYES WITHOUT A FACE ($39.99 BluRay; Criterion) -- Frankly, the poster art has always been creepy enough to keepme away from this classy horror flick from 1960. French directorGeorges Franju delivered this masterpiece about a plastic surgeon who is obsessed with restoring the beauty of his disfigured daughter...no matter the price. So this is the year I'lltackle Eyes Without A Face, which if nothing else supplied Billy Idol with a great title for a pop song. The extras include a 20minute short Franju made in 1949 about the abattoirs of Parisand excerpts of interviews with the director and from a documentary about the screenwriters. ROOM 237 ($29.99 BluRay; IFC Midnight) -- Here's theperfect Halloween movie for cineastes. You can watch Stanley Kubrick's The Shining and then you can dive into this documentary film about scholars and fans obsessed with the filmwho have dived down the rabbit hole while explicating all theclues and meanings embedded in the movie. It's truly scarierthan anything in The Shining to see how much analysis andsymbolism some have attached to the most fleeting passages inthe movie. While the level of detail and consistency in Kubrick's work is fascinating, ultimately this seems more about the passion and mania others have brought to it than a definitive explanation of what Kubrick's The Shining really "means." BYZANTIUM ($29.99 BluRay; IFC) -- Director Neil Jordan's last great film was The End Of The Affair in 1999. Since then he's had better luck on TV overseeing The Borgias than with his movies. Byzantium proved no different. It's his first foray into the vampiregenre since his Anne Rice blockbuster, which itself wasn't very good or would have inspired sequels about Lestat. (Perhaps a TV miniserieswould do that work justice?) Here Jordanfollows two female vampires, one with bloodlust and the other tired of always being on the run. If nothing else it has atmosphere toburn and fans insist Saoirse Ronan continues toshow her exceptional acting chops. NIGHT TIDE($24.99 BluRay; Kino)-- Not really a horrormovie, Night Tide is a genuinely odd little B movie with a lot to recommend. DennisHopper plays a sailorwho falls for a girl(Linda Lawson) playing a mermaid in a seaside carnival. Of course, she's not really a mermaid but shemay be a siren and just as she and Hopper are finding romance the ocean is luring herback. Admit it, you're intrigued. The extras include audio commentary by writer-directorCurtis Harrington and Hopper, as well as a 55 minute interview with Harrington from1985. Lawson by the way worked steadily in TV via bit parts and recurring roles for the next 44 years till retiring to Beverly Hills. No word on whether she spends an inordinateamount of time in her pool..... ***** Most titles listed here will be available in multiple formats and in multiple combinations,including DVD, Blu-ray, digital download, video on demand, streaming and the like. Theformat listed is the format provided for review, not all the formats available. It is oftenthe most expensive version with the most extras. Do check individual titles foravailability in all their various guises and price points. Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the founder and CEO of BookFilter, a book lover's best friend. It's a website that lets you browse for books online the way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of the way. It's like a fall book preview or holiday gift guide -- but every week in every category. He's alsothe cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog. Note : Michael Giltz is provided with free copies of DVDs and Blu-rays with the understanding that he would be considering them for review. Generally, he does not guarantee to review and he receives far more titles than he can cover. Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz

DVDs Boo A Halloween Roundup of Scary New DVDs

📄 DVDs Boo A Halloween Roundup of Scary New DVDs

SEO TEXT: Article Content for Search Engines