Hitting Shelves 9.24

Okay, so I'm a day late on this. Sorry about that, but here we go. There's some really good stuff out there today, here are a few of the highlights.   For starters, this is a big week for releases for Scream Factory, with three anticipated titles making their Blu-ray debuts. (Also on DVD, for those of you who have not yet converted to the Hi-Def system).

Directed by Australian Richard Franklin, Psycho II finds Norman released by Dr. Raymond (Robert Loggia) after 22 years in the freak wharf (sorry Paul F. Thompkins came on Pandora a lot today). He begins working at a diner and soon befriends one of his coworkers, a cute but inept young waitress named Mary. Mary is played by Jennifer Tilly's sister Meg, who I think bears a pretty striking resemblance to a young Edward Furlong. Anyone else think she's a bit Furlongian in the face, or am I just insane here?

Soon Mary breaks up with her boyfriend and reluctantly decides to accept Norman's offer of a room FOC (free of charge). Very shortly after Mary moves in people start turning up murdered and Norman again begins to question his sanity.

Psycho II is rather fun entry in the series with a great performance from Perkins, some rather shocking deaths and a great story that will keep you guessing. It's way better than you'd think, and anyone who hasn't seen it should be sure to pick this one up. If you only see one Psycho sequel, make it this one. Scream Factory hasn't piled on the extras for this release, but the commentary from Fright Night director Tom Holland is a great listen.

Things to watch for:
Meg Tilly's Wifebeater. Furlongian or not, she's cute
Drugs and hookers? You're gonna taint the reputation of the Bates Motel!
A shockingly Fulcian skull knifing, sort of a reverse of the opening death is House By The Cemetery

Bonus features:

All-new Audio Commentary with Screenwriter Tom Holland Vintage interviews with cast and crew including Anthony Perkins and director Richard Franklin Vintage audio interviews with cast and crew TV Spots Original Theatrical Trailer

Monster Cereals Available Now!

I mentioned earlier this month that General Mills was resurrecting their classic Frute Brute and Yummy Mummy lines, and they've finally made their way into stores. The best part of this is that Target has a deal with General Mills to carry exclusive throwback boxes that looks exactly like they did 30 years ago. The current boxes have gotten to swanky for my liking, I prefer the crappier and more dangerous look of the 80's boxes. For example:

Excuse the crappy quality of this photo. My house has bad lighting 

and my camera phone is super cheap.

After sampling Yummy Mummy and Frute Brute for the first time, I have to say that Count Chocula is still the king of all monster cereals, but the creamsicle flavored Yummy Mummy, and the cherry flavored Frute Brute are still quite tasty. Well worth the $2.50 I paid for them. Get out there and get some boxes of your own.

Get Assaulted 11/19

 
Speaking of Mr. John Carpenter, the complete list of extra features for the 11/19 release of Assault on Precinct 13 was posted by Scream a few days ago, for those of you who missed the list:

- NEW Commentary with Art Director & Sound Effects Editor Tommy Lee Wallace
- NEW interview with actress Nancy Loomis Kyes
- NEW interview with actor Austin Stoker
- Commmentary with writer/director John Carpenter
- Interview with John Carpenter and Austin Stoker
- Theatrical Trailer
- Radio Spots
- Still Gallery

Pre-order now at ScreamFactoryDVD.com to receive a limited edition 18" x 24" poster of the newly-designed key art!

Arrow Video's Big Trouble

Arrow Video has just posted the first look at their Big Trouble in Little China steelbook, and it's a beauty. I consider The Thing to be Carpenter's greatest film, but Big Trouble is certainly his most fun, it's a goddamn blast and I can't wait to get my hands on Arrow's upcoming release.

Devil's Express Available Now From Code Red

There are actually a couple of brand new releases that have just been posted on the Code Red Big Cartel store, but one of the releases is a triple feature and I didn't want the post title to be 37 words long. Up first a triple feature consisting of The Female Bunch, Piranha Piranha, and Tarzana The Wild Girl. The second, and most awesome looking new release is Devil's Express, starring a real crazy looking son of a bitch named Warhawk Tanzania. It seems like something I would've checked out before, but somehow I've never seen Devil's Express. It sounds kinda like a Kung-Fu C.H.U.D., and that sounds pretty great to me.

 
DEVIL'S EXPRESS - $19.99
New York Master Martial Artist Luke (Warhawk Tanzania) goes to Hong Kong to earn his next level in the Martial Arts world. He convinces his student Rodan (Wilfredo Roldan) to accompany him. Once they arrive, they come across an ancient burial site and find an amulet that holds a horrific demon creature in its power. Not knowing what the amulet was for, Rodan steals it and takes it back to gang infested New York City, only for the demon to come to New York to find it! The demon travels through the New York city subway tunnels as it preys on it's victims, including Rodan himself! The police think all the killings are a result of gang wars, but Luke soon finds out the terrifying truth and seeks out to avenge the death of his student! Luke must confront the horrifying demon face to face and do battle in the underground subways, where the only train that runs that late is the Devil’s Express! This gritty action, grindhouse, martial-arts, horror classic has finally arrived at the Code Red station! When the film THE WARRIORS was released theatrically, the distributor of DEVIL’S EXPRESS re-titled it as GANG WARS to make it look like a gang fight movie. It took CODE RED DVD many, many years to locate the camera Negatives and the film is now restored in HiDef! Also starring Brother Theodore and David Durston (I DRINK YOUR BLOOD). Directed by Barry Rosen (YUM YUM GIRLS)

ACTION 3 PACK - $16.99
FEMALE BUNCH 1971/R/ 16x9/1.78:1

Executive producer Mardi Rustam and producer Raphael Nussbaum presents an Al Adamson film! Messed up with multiple men, Sandy (Nesa Renet) tries to kill herself. Co-waitress Libby (Regina Carrol, Ms. Adamson) saves her and takes her to meet some female friends of hers who live on a ranch in the desert. Grace (Jennifer Bishop, MAKO JAWS OF DEATH), the leader of the gang, puts Sandy through her initiation and they get on with the real job of running drugs across the Mexican border, hassling poor farmers, taking any man they please, and generally raising a little hell. Soon, Sandy becomes unsure if this is the life for her, but it may be too late to get out. Russ Tamblyn (WEST SIDE STORY, SATAN'S SADISTS), Lon Chaney Jr. (THE WOLFMAN), Geoffrey Land (REDNECK MILLER), Albert Cole (TERMINAL ISLAND), John Bud Cardos (KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS), and Jacqueline Cole (ANGELS’ BRIDGADE) co-star. Master taken from the only surviving 35mm we could find in 5 years!

PIRANHA PIRANHA 1972/ PG/ 16x9/1.78:1

Wildlife photographer Terry (Ahna Capri, ENTER THE DRAGON, BROTHERHOOD OF SATAN, PAYDAY, DARKER THAN AMBER) and her brother Art (Tom Simcox, TV's GUNSMOKE) go to Venezuela for a photo shoot. They hire Jim Pendrake to guide them through the jungle. However, the trio run afoul of evil local hunter Caribe (William Smith, RED DAWN, DARKER THAN AMBER, ULTIMATE WARRIOR) . 50's teen heartthrob Peter Brown (RAPE SQUAD) co-stars!

TARZANA THE WILD GIRL 1970 / R/ 16x9/1.78:1

Foxy Femi Benussi plays Tarzana in a low rent italian film co-starring Ken Clark, Beryl Cunninghan, and Franca Polesello, directed by Father Guido Malatesta! Dying 35mm print presented in a grindhouse version - a run to death print in nightmare mode!

Vinegar Syndrome Now Offering Digital Downloads

Vinegar Syndrome just announced yesterday that they'll be offering up 1080p digital downloads of some of their films.  They're just testing the waters with this so there are only a handful of movies up as of right now, you can find the list of downloadable titles here.

From Facebook:
 
"Watch THE SUCKERS in HD! We're now offering 1080p digital downloads on the site. Starting with the first four drive-in releases + A LABOR OF LOVE. Priced at $4 per film.

The 1080p mp4 files are DRM-free and playable on most all computers, mobile devices, smart TVs and streaming media platforms such as Roku, Boxee, Chromecast and Apple TV."

The Baffling Remake of the Year Award Goes To...

Embrace of the Vampire, coming October 15th from Anchor Bay. I say that this is a baffling remake because the original has no fanbase. You usually remake a film that has at least a bit of a following so you can pull some people in with name recognition, but Embrace of the Vampire has no real fans that I know of, it's a pretty terrible film with one saving grace; Alyssa Milano's tits. That's it. That's literally the only reason anyone who has seen Embrace of the Vampire has seen Embrace of the Vampire and anyone who has seen it didn't like it apart from the nudity. Samantha Micelli grew up hot, and then starred in a movie fucking a vampire so lame they didn't even bother to give his character a name and perverts like myself thought "Yes, I will watch this movie". Then immediately following the movie "Well, that wasn't very good, now was it?"

I don't know, the girl in this remake seems attractive enough, and there seems to be more vampire action involved, so this should be a remake that surpasses the original pretty easily, though it still looks pretty crappy from the trailer.

October 15th also sees the Blu-ray debut of the original Embrace, which is also coming from Anchor Bay, so don't expect many, if any, features. It's too bad that they couldn't have added the Joe Bob Brigg's Monstervision segments on the disc as a bonus, but luckily a dude named Ian was nice enough to upload a clip of it on Youtube. In fact I say just skip both movies and watch this clip, you'll be more entertained.

Lurkers, Die Sister, Die and The Power From Scorpion

During my daily horror forum perusal I stumbled upon an announcement for some very cool releases just announced by Scorpion Releasing.

Some news on upcoming SD DVD releases. Originally I was going to double bill THE POWER with LURKERS due to poor elements on THE POWER, but we uncovered a much better element, so now we are going to release THE POWER as a standalone on DVD. LURKERS, which has been remastered from the original IP and the 3 trk mag in HD 16x9, will now be paired with the first officially licensed version of DIE SISTER DIE, taken from the original negatives and the 3 trk mag, and both releases will be a Katarina's Nightmare Theater title ! LURKERS/DIE SISTER DIE will be released on 11/26, THE POWER will be released 12/17.

Argento's Dracula Gets Misleadingly Awesome Poster

Pretty much everyone who has seen Dario Argento's 3-D Dracula knows that it's anything but awesome. Dreadful, ridiculous and hilarious, sure. Awesome? Nope. For the US theatrical release (why?) IFC has decided to try and dupe everyone into thinking otherwise by commissioning this incredible piece of art for the theatrical poster.

I say avoid this one. As do these people. But for those of you who aren't swayed by those negative reviews and are still interested in seeing one of the worst Dracula movies you'll ever see, you will be able to do so starting October 4th.

Night of the Comet - Full List of Blu-ray Extras Announced

Scream Factory's highly anticipated Night of the Comet Blu-ray is just a couple of months away, and they've just announced the specs and the full list of bonus features. The full press release can be found below:

 SCREAM FACTORY™ invites loyal fans and movie collectors to feast on sci-fi gory goodness and high-camp spills from 80s when Thom E. Eberhardt’s end-of-the-world cult classic NIGHT OF THE COMET Collector’s Edition Blu-ray™+DVD combo pack finally lands on home entertainment shelves everywhere on November 19, 20013. This highly entertaining fantasy classic debuts for the first time on Blu-ray™. Featuring anamorphic widescreen movie presentation, NIGHT OF THE COMET Collector’s Edition boasts newly rendered retro-style artwork, exciting bonus content, and a reversible wrap with theatrical key art and more! 

***Avid fans and collectors please take note: those who order NIGHT OF THE COMET Collector’s Edition from ScreamfactoryDVD.com will receive the respective exclusive 18”x24” poster featuring the newly commissioned artwork!  These are only available while supplies last.***

Pre-order link: http://www.shoutfactory.com/node/218464

http://www.amazon.com/Night-Comet-Collectors-BluRay-Blu-ray/dp/B00EF0NY7W/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1379520045&sr=1-1&keywords=night+of+the+comet

 

BD: 1080p High-Definition Widescreen (1.78:1)/DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1/Mono

DVD: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1)/Dolby Digital 5.1/Mono

Bonus content

·           Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Thom Eberhardt

·           Audio Commentary with Stars Kelli Maroney and Catherine Mary Stewart

·           Audio Commentary with Production Designer John Muto

·           Valley Girls At The End Of The World – Interviews with Stars Kelli Maroney and Catherine Mary Stewart

·           The Last Man On Earth? – An Interview with Actor Robert Beltran

·           Curse of the Comet – An Interview with Special Make-Up Effects Creator David B. Miller

·           Still Galleries (Behind the Scenes and Official Stills)

·           Theatrical Trailer

Random Incredible Deal Alert - Ninja III $8.99

Just a heads up on an awesome deal I just discovered, Scream Factory's Blu-ray of the truly awesome Ninja III has just temporarily dropped to $8.99. I can't recommend this one enough (review here), if you haven't gotten this one yet then do yourself a favor and click here to grab a copy now before Amazon jacks the price back up.

Dead or Alive You're Coming With Me. Robocop Trailer Premieres

Hey, I kind of forgot they were doing a remake of this until this brand new trailer popped up online. A lot of people were against this remake (though not as many as with the Ninja Turtles - there's a franchise with an unexpectedly hardcore fanbase), but you know what, I like Robocop, I like Gary Oldman, and I like Michael Keaton and the trailer looks pretty good to me. Count me in for this one.

Bodacious Boobies Sis! Night of the Demons Gets New Cover Art

Scream Factory just posted the newly designed Nathan Thomas Milliner art for their upcoming 2014 Blu-ray release. As usual with these newly designed covers the flipside will feature the original artwork. 

Mr. Beardsley?! Squirm From Arrow September 23rd

Starring: Don Scardino, Patricia Pearcy, R.A. Dow
Directed by: Jeff Lieberman

Overview: THIS WAS THE NIGHT OF THE CRAWLING TERROR!

One of the most original and entertaining of the revenge-of-nature films that characterised mid-1970s American horror, Squirm begins with a pylon being downed by a thunderstorm, sending millions of volts into the wet, conductive mud, which naturally gives hundreds of thousands of its wriggly inhabitants an insatiable hunger for human flesh.

And since the accident has also inconveniently cut off the electricity to Fly Creek, Georgia, its population could hardly be more vulnerable when the sun goes down. Houses can be barricaded against most intruders, but what happens when they're small enough to get into the water supply?

Writer-director Jeff Lieberman (who also made the cult classics Blue Sunshine and Just Before Dawn) achieves a near-perfect blend of knowing wit and good old-fashioned scares, with make-up genius Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London) on hand for some of the memorably disgusting special effects.

Special Features:
-High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD uncut presentation, available in the UK for the first time!
-Original Uncompressed Mono Audio
-Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
-Audio commentary with director Jeff Lieberman
-Filmed Live Q&A session with Lieberman and star Don Scardino from New York’s Anthology Film Archives (2011)
-The Esoteric Auteur - Kim Newman on Jeff Lieberman and Squirm
-Original Trailer
-Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin
-Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Lee Gambin, author of Massacred by Mother Nature and an interview with Jeff Lieberman by Calum Waddell, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Region B/2

I'm hoping that Scream might get this one in the future. Not because I like the movie, I know it's supposed to be tongue in cheek and I mean no offense to Jeff Lieberman by this but I personally think that Squirm is a turd of a movie with bad acting performed by unappealing actors. But if Scream puts this one out they'd probably put out the Squirm episode of MST3K as well and I'm 100% for anything that gets that episode released.

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD uncut presentation, available in the UK for the first time!
• Original Uncompressed Mono Audio
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary with director Jeff Lieberman
• Filmed Live Q&A session with Lieberman and star Don Scardino from New York’s Anthology Film Archives (2011)
• The Esoteric Auteur - Kim Newman on Jeff Lieberman and Squirm
• Original Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin
• Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Lee Gambin, author of Massacred by Mother Nature and an interview with Jeff Lieberman by Calum Waddell, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

You can pre-order the Blu-Ray/DVD dual-edition release right HERE.
- See more at: http://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/jeff-liebermanns-cult-classic-squirm-hitting-uk-blu-ray-dvd-september-23#sthash.oIpoWlKP.dpuf

Cockneys Vs. Zombies Scream Factory Blu-ray Review

 Director: Matthias Hoene
Writer: James Moran

Stars:  Rasmus Hardiker, Harry Treadaway, Michelle Ryan, Alan Ford

Year: 2012

Running Time: 88 Minutes

Studio: Scream Factory

Region: A

A pair of brothers Andy (Harry Treadaway) and Terry (Rasmus Hardiker) learn that their grandfather's retirement home is soon to be demolished to make room for a couple of apartment buildings. The guys figure that if they can just come up with a fuckton of cash they should be able to keep the home from being torn down. The only problem is that they both work for a Meals on Wheels-type operation, so a fuckton is not an easily attainable amount of cash for them to amass in a short period of time. So the guys do what any level headed siblings would, they concoct a plan to pull off a bank heist.

As anyone who has robbed a bank before knows it takes more than two guys to properly heist a bank, so they've brought some help:

- Chubby friend (and Nick Frost look-a-like) Davey (Jack Doolan) - in charge of Wardrobe/Mustaches.
- Hot cousin Katy (Michelle Ryan) - a master of unlocking.
- Mental Mickey (Ashley Thomas) - a completely deranged steel-plate-headed guy who they put on weapons duty because he owns an entire Storage Wars sized storage container packed completely full of weapons. It's an unbelievable amount of weapons really, just a T2 underground bunker amount of weapons. Mickey's a real wild card whose inclusion in the plan is questionable, even with the mass weaponry because, sure, he'll help you rob a bank, but he also might shoot you in the face just for the hell of it.

Jose Ramon Larraz - 1929 - 2013

2013 has claimed yet another beloved horror personality, this time we've lost Jose Ramon Larraz, director of horror titles such as Symptoms, The House That Vanished, Black Candles, Edge of the Axe and one of the ultimate lesbian vampire films Vampyres.

I'm not an expert of Larraz's body of work Edge of the Axe is a lot of fun, and Vampyres is pretty great - he didn't have a huge filmography, but his work that I've seen was always interesting and entertaining. He retired from directing many years ago, but it's always upsetting to lose anyone from the world of horror, especially a horror director who was also a big horror fan like Larraz. 

The only articles I can find about this news are in Spanish, but here's a link to one of them at SciFiWorld. 

The Fog - Scream Factory Blu-ray Review

Director: John Carpenter
Writer: John Carpenter, Debra Hill

Stars: Hal Holbrook, Tom Atkins, Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Buck Flower

Year: 1980

Running Time: 90 Minutes

Studio: Scream Factory

Region: A

The Fog was Carpenter's second shot at Horror after the amazing success of Halloween. John shot the film in 1980, right between his Elvis film with Kurt Russell and Escape From New York with Kurt Russell. The plot is your pretty standard ghost revenge story; a small coastal town called Antonio Bay  feels the wrath of a curse in the form of a deadly fog that brings forth the ghosts of vengeful leprous mariners who were murdered there exactly 100 years earlier. The town priest, whose great grandfather was directly responsible for the mariner's deaths must find a way to stop them before the entire town is doomed.

I've been a horror fan for as long as I can remember, but I seemed to have stuck strictly to the Freddy and Jason stuff that was so abundantly popular when I was a kid. A lot of great stuff was being released when I was a young horror fan, but I missed so much of it the first time around. The Fog was one of these movies. I  first saw The Fog roughly a decade ago, shortly after the August 26, 2003 MGM DVD release - which, by the way, was an absolutely ridiculous day for MGM horror releases; The Brood, Burnt Offerings, Comedy of Terrors/The Raven, Countess Dracula/The Vampire Lovers, The Ghoul, Ghoulies, Haunted Palace/Tower of London, The Howling, I, Madman, Poltergeist 2/Poltergeist 3, Raw Meat, Squirm, Tomb of Ligeia, and Troll/Troll 2 all came out on that same day. I think I spent like $130 that day.

Blood Farmers + Silent Night Bloody Night Out Now From Code Red

 

INVASION OF THE BLOOD FARMERS
This dreadful, but oddly engaging horror Black comedy film from director Ed Adlum (SHRIEK OF THE MUTILATED) and co-writer Ed Kelleher deals with a cult of modern-day Druids on a farm in upstate New York. In order to keep their catatonic queen alive in her glass coffin, the cultists drain the blood from passersby with the aid of some cheap plastic tubing. The leader of the cult is a flamboyantly effeminate priest whose hilariously silly explanations of his beliefs provide most of the film's minimal entertainment value. Outlandish Paul Craig Jennings as Creaton lights up the insane film in this campy cult favorite. Co-produced by Jack Bravman (SNUFF, ZOMBIE NIGHTMARE)

Audio commentary with Ed Adlum
Brand New transfer from a 35mm grindhouse prints from Ed Adlum's garage
Theatrical Trailer
UNRATED/ 1.78.1 (16 x 9) /77min

SILENT NIGHT BLOODY NIGHT (aka DEATH HOUSE)
The secrets of a small New England town are violently exposed on Christmas Eve in this proto-slasher shocker. The owner of the long-abandoned Butler estate is desperate to sell, and dispatches his lawyer from New York to negotiate its purchase by the town council. Meanwhile, an inmate from a nearby insane asylum breaks loose and makes his way to the old mansion to take bloody revenge for a crime kept hidden for 35 years. The maniac makes mysterious phone calls to various prominent citizens, telling them that "Marianne" has returned, and lures each to the Butler house to meet their doom. The mayor's daughter, Diane, receives a visit from a man who claims to be Jeremy Butler, the mansion's owner, in town to investigate his lawyer's disappearance. Together they attempt to unravel the sinister mystery of the Butler house, which turns out to be a harrowing tale of incest, insanity and mass murder. Hollywood star Patrick O'Neal (CASTLE KEEP, KREMLIN LETTER), Cult favorites Mary Woronov (EATING RAOUL), John Carradine (GRAPES OF WRATH), Asrid Heeren (CASTLE KEEP). Written by Jeffrey Konvitz (THE SENTINEL) Directed by Theodore Gershuny

Theatrical Trailer

Rated R/ 1.85.1 (16x9) / 85min

Get it now from Code Red. Also, while I'm talking Code Red I wanted to mention that it appears the absolutely terrific Retribution is currently back in stock. I recommend that one to everyone out there, in my opinion it's up there with Sole Survivor and Messiah of Evil as one of the very best films Code Red has released.

Die, Monster, Die From Scream in 2014

Here's a nice little surprise title announcement Scream Factory has just posted on their Facebook page. Die, Monster is one of the 40 or so DVDs I own from MGM's Midnite Movies line. I've owned it for years but never got around to watching it, looks like I'll just wait a bit longer and check it out in high definition.

"Ready to cruise back to the 60s? We are! The 1965 shocker DIE, MONSTER, DIE! (starring Frankenstein's monster himself, Boris Karloff) will be coming to Blu-ray for the first time from us in the early part of 2014. No other details to report at this time.

Check out the artwork, which uses the original theatrical poster art--that we always find groovy."

Hitting Shelves 9.3

There's a lot of great stuff coming out today, too much for me to list them all in fact.  Here are some that I think are well worth a look:

From Scream comes the stateside Blu-ray and DVD release of Cockneys vs. Zombies. Cockneys is kind of like a less funny (though still funny) Shaun of the Dead mixed with the inept thuggery so frequently found in the work of Guy Ritchie - in fact it utilizes a few quick editing techniques found in Ritchie films like Snatch and Lock, Stock. I'm working on a review for it now, but to sum up it's a bit derivative but still a very entertaining zombie comedy for those of you out there who aren't sick of comedic zombies.

Thanks to Shout! Factory we also finally get one of my most eagerly awaited releases of the year, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie . In my opinion The Movie is lesser MST (thanks to the studio interference and shortened running time) but it's still a lot of fun, and we finally, finally get a release with some proper extra features. I'm particularly excited to get a chance to see the deleted scenes after all these years.



Also out there today are a couple more Bava titles from Kino; Five Dolls For an August Moon & A Bay of Blood Both are fairly light on features, but each title does include a Tim Lucas commentary.

FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON is Mario Bava's deliriously mod spin on an Agatha Christie style whodunit.

Bava was so closely associated with the horror genre that this twisting mystery was never released theatrically in the U.S., but it is deliciously entertaining all the same. A space age island retreat is visited by a group of friends and business associates, one of whom is a scientist who has invented a revolutionary chemical process, and is fending off various offers to buy it. Soon the vacationers start dying, and the survivors begin to wonder who has the most to gain from these murders most foul.

One of the most influential horror films of all time, Mario Bava's A BAY OF BLOOD (1971, aka Twitch of the Death Nerve) is the spurting artery from which all future slasher films would flow.

When crippled Countess Federica is murdered at her isolated mansion, a gruesome battle ensues to secure the rights to her valuable property around the bay. Everyone, from illegitimate children to shady real estate agents, stakes a claim, only to be killed in increasingly bizarre ways, from simple shootings to impalement by fishing spear. The makeup effects are by Carlo Rambaldi, who would later earn Oscars for his work in Alien (1979) and E.T. (1982).

Rodman Flender's stupidly hysterical satanic stoner possession comedy Idle Hands finally makes its Blu-ray debut from Image. I actually just saw this again for the first time in several years, and it's not as funny as it was to me when I was 18, but there are still plenty of great jokes and references to a ton of classic horror films, and even a quick nod to The French Connection. It's also worth a look for an early appearance by Jessica Alba who in my opinion never looked hotter than she does here. The Blu-ray looks and sounds great, but we get totally dicked in the extra features department. The old DVD has some pretty great bonus material, so if you have the DVD you'll want to hang on to it.

And finally, Twitter's favorite shark film Sharknado hits Blu-ray and DVD today. This one really blew up on the internet and I'm not sure why because SyFy has been making these kinds of dumbass CGI-tacular pieces of crap for a decade. Look it up, there's a hundred of these things. I caught this one on one of its many repeat showings, and it's not nearly terrible enough to have caused such an uproar online. It's a bad movie, sure, but while it's bad enough to be enjoyable, it's not bad enough to be hilarious, certainly not enough to have garnered as much attention as it did. Still, it's entertaining enough to be worth a look, though I don't see myself picking it up unless I can get it for $2 from a Hastings sale or something, especially since it'll probably air on SyFy many, many times. For the best in terribly awful CGI shark cinema, might I recommend Shark Attack 3: Megalodon.