For this final Tuesday in October (and the last day of home entertainment releases prior to Halloween), horror fans have a bunch of great new Blu-rays and DVDs coming out just in time for everyone’s favorite holiday. Scream Factory has given The Exorcist III an HD overhaul (including the original Director’s Cut of the sequel), which is something no genre lover will want to miss out on experiencing. Arrow Video is also keeping busy on October 25th with the release of their impressive 17-disc box set celebrating trailblazing filmmaker Herschell Gordon Lewis, and the recent supernatural thriller Lights Out is making its way to Blu-ray and DVD as well.
Cult film enthusiasts are undoubtedly going to be busy this Tuesday, with Severin Films releasing a 2K version of Burial Ground, Blue Underground showing Lucio Fulci’s Manhattan Baby some love this week, and Vinegar Syndrome giving us four different cult titles to add to our home collections: Deathrow Gameshow, Hobgoblins, a Murder Weapon / Deadly Embrace double feature, and Nightmare Sisters.
Other notable Blu-ray and DVD releases for October 25th include The Id, Killbillies, Voodoo Rising, and The Curse of Doctor Wolffenstein.
Burial Ground (Severin Films, Blu-ray & DVD)
For his only foray into the zombie genre, sleaze maestro Andrea Bianchi (MALABIMBA: THE MALICIOUS WHORE) unleashes enough flesh-ripping, gut-chomping and depraved mayhem to set insane new standards in Italian horror: Mariangela Giordano (of SATAN'S BABY DOLL and MALABIMBA fame) stars in the splatter classic about a cursed country estate besieged by houseguests, undead Etruscans and the relationship between a mother (Giordano) and her mega-creepy young son (disturbingly portrayed by diminutive actor Peter Bark). Severin Films is improbably proud to present the definitive version of this gorehound favorite, now packed with all-new Extras and featuring a 2k scan and restoration from an immaculate 35mm print recently discovered beneath the floorboards of a Trastevere church rectory.
Special Features:
The Exorcist III: Collector’s Edition (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
For more than fifteen years Police Lieutenant Kinderman (George C. Scott) has been haunted by the death of his friend Father Damien Karras. Now, on the 15th anniversary of the exorcism that claimed the priest’s life, Kinderman’s world is once again shattered when a boy is found decapitated and savagely crucified. It’s just the beginning of a nightmare series of bizarre religious murders.
The brutal murders bear the hallmarks of the infamous Gemini Killer…who died in the electric chair fifteen years earlier. But when a psychopath claiming to be the Gemini Killer reveals intimate, gruesome details that only the true killer could possibly know, Kinderman is confronted with a horrifying truth that he cannot explain…and that will shake him to the core.
The Exorcist III is author/filmmaker William Peter Blatty’s personal vision of what followed after The Exorcist. Like the original, The Exorcist III combines elements of a detective story, a theological puzzle, and an unforgettable study in terror.
DISC ONE: The Exorcist III (Theatrical Cut)
• New 2K scan of the inter-positive
• Vintage featurette
• Deleted Scene/Alternate Takes/Bloopers
• Deleted Prologue
• Vintage interviews (featuring behind-the-scenes footage) with writer/director William Peter Blatty, George C. Scott, Jason Miller, Ed Flanders, Grand L. Bush, executive producer James G. Robinson, production designer Leslie Dilley, Larry King and C. Everett Koop
• Theatrical Trailers
• TV Spots • Photo Galleries
DISC TWO: Legion (Original Director’s Cut) 105 minutes
• NEW Audio interview with writer/director William Peter Blatty
• NEW A “Wonderful” Time – interviews with producer Carter DeHaven, actors Clifford David and Tracy Thorne and production assistant Kara Reidy
• NEW Signs of the Gemini – an interview with Brad Dourif
• NEW The Devil in the Details – interview with production designer Leslie Dilley, assistant designer Daren Dochterman and illustrator Simon Murton
• NEW Music for a Padded Cell – an interview with composer Barry DeVorzon
• NEW All This Bleeding – a look at the re-shoot and makeup effects with production manager Ronald Colby, editor Todd Ramsay, effects artists William Forsche, Mike Smithson, Brian Wade and actor/body double Charles Powell
The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast: 17-Disc Limited Edition Set (Arrow Video, Blu/DVD Combo)
In 1963, director Herschell Gordon Lewis pulled a cow s tongue out of an actress mouth on camera, and in doing so, changed the landscape of horror cinema forever. That sequence was just one of numerous gruesome gags featured in Blood Feast, the film credited as being the world s first gore movie. It s no exaggeration to say that the modern gross-out movies of today owe their very existence to the pioneering efforts of H.G. Lewis.
But whilst Lewis is most widely celebrated for his blood-and-guts epics (Two Thousand Maniacs!, The Wizard of Gore et al.), there s more to the prolific director than splatter. From tales of sordid photographers (Scum of the Earth) to sex robots (How to Make a Doll), from biker girl-gangs (She-Devils on Wheels) to youths-run-amok (Just for the Hell of It), and from psychic witches (Something Weird) to hard liquor-loving hillbillies (Moonshine Mountain), the filmography of H.G. Lewis reads like a veritable wish-list of exploitation movie madness.
Now, for the first time ever, Arrow Video is proud to present fourteen of the Godfather of Gore s most essential films (including nine Blu-ray world debuts), collected together in a Limited Edition set (only 2,500 in the U.S.) and packed full of eye-popping bonus content. So put your feet up, pour yourself a glass of good ol moonshine, and prepare yourself for a feast H.G. Lewis style!
LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:
Lights Out (Warner Home Video, Blu/Digital HD & DVD)
When Rebecca left home, she thought she left her childhood fears behind. Growing up, she was never really sure of what was and wasn’t real when the lights went out…and now her little brother, Martin, is experiencing the same unexplained and terrifying events that had once tested her sanity and threatened her safety. A frightening entity with a mysterious attachment to their mother, Sophie, has reemerged. But this time, as Rebecca gets closer to unlocking the truth, there is no denying that all their lives are in danger…once the lights go out.
Manhattan Baby (Blue Underground, Blu-ray)
A young girl on vacation in Egypt is given a mysterious charm, causing her archeologist father to be struck blind inside an unexplored pyramid tomb. But when the family returns home to Manhattan, a plague of supernatural evil and sudden violence follows. Can this ancient curse be stopped before it is unleashed on the streets of New York City?
Christopher Connelly (1990: THE BRONX WARRIORS), Laura Lenzi (THE ADVENTURES OF HERCULES II), Giovanni Frezza (THE HOUSE BY THE CEMTERY) and Carlo De Mejo (CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD) star in Italian shock master Lucio Fulci's bizarre horror thriller, which combines elements of THE EXORCIST, THE AWAKENING, POLTERGEIST, and more. Also known as EYE OF THE EVIL DEAD and POSSESSED, MANHATTAN BABY has been newly transferred and fully restored in 2K from the original uncensored camera negative and comes fully loaded with exclusive new Extras produced for this release!
EXTRAS:
* 'Fulci & I' - Interview with Composer Fabio Frizzi (An Hour-Long Career Overview Of the Soundtrack Collaborations of Fabio Frizzi & Lucio Fulci)
* 'For The Birds' - Interview with Star Cosimo Cinieri
* '25 Years With Fulci' - Interview with Make-Up Effects Artist Maurizio Trani
* 'Beyond The Living Dead' - Interview with Co-Writer Dardano Sacchetti
* 'Stephen Thrower on MANHATTAN BABY' - Interview with the author of 'Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci'
* 'Manhattan Baby Suite' - Live Studio Performance by Fabio Frizzi
* Theatrical Trailer
* Poster & Still Gallery
* BONUS Collectable Booklet featuring new writing by author Troy Howarth
* BONUS CD MANHATTAN BABY Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Fabio Frizzi
ALSO AVAILABLE THIS WEEK:
The Curse of Doctor Wolffenstein (Reel Gore Releasing, Blu/DVD Combo)
Deathrow Gameshow (Vinegar Syndrome, Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
Hobgoblins (Vinegar Syndrome, Blu/DVD Combo)
The Id (Hutson Ranch Media, Blu-ray)
Killbillies (Artsploitation Films, DVD)
Murder Weapon/Deadly Embrace Double Feature (Vinegar Syndrome, Blu/DVD Combo)
Nightmare Sisters (Vinegar Syndrome, Blu/DVD Combo)
Razors: The Return of Jack the Ripper (Breaking Glass Pictures, DVD)
Vampire Ecstasy/ Sin You Sinners Double Feature (Film Media/Film Movement, Blu-ray)
Voodoo Rising (SGL Entertainment, DVD)
Heather A. Wixson was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, until she followed her dreams and moved to Los Angeles in 2009. A 14-year veteran in the world of horror entertainment journalism, Wixson fell in love with genre films at a very early age, and has spent more than a decade as a writer and supporter of preserving the history of horror and science fiction cinema. Throughout her career, Wixson has contributed to several notable websites, including Fangoria, Dread Central, Terror Tube, and FEARnet, and she currently serves as the Managing Editor for Daily Dead, which has been her home since 2013. She's also written for both Fangoria Magazine & ReMind Magazine, and her latest book project, Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume One will be released on October 20, 2021.
Daily Dead's Official Podcast! Daily Dead's Official Podcast!
