Even though everyone is pretty much amped that Pennywise and the newest adaptation of IT are making their home entertainment debuts this Tuesday, we also have more great Blu-rays and DVD releases to look forward to as well. It’s a big week for Troma, as not only their latest feature, Hectic Knife, comes home on Blu this week, but Troma alum Trent Haaga’s wickedly wild crime caper 68 Kill is being released by Scream Factory and IFC Midnight.
Arrow Academy has put together a Special Edition release of The Witches, and a film that I really enjoyed out of Sundance 2017—Bad Day for the Cut—gets released this week via the fine folks over at Well Go USA. Other notable releases for January 9th include Friend Request and Nails.
68 Kill (Scream Factory/IFC Midnight, Blu-ray & DVD)
Trailer-dwelling, sewage-pumping Chip (Matthew Gray Gubler, Criminal Minds) may not lead the most glamorous life, but he's got one thing going for him: he's head over heels infatuated with his girlfriend Liza (AnnaLynne McCord, 90210). He's more than willing to overlook her wild streak — the fact that she's hooking up with their landlord, her rather extreme mood swings — so when she proposes a plot to steal $68,000, he goes along with the plan. But what was supposed to be a simple heist turns into an off-the-rails, blood-spattered crime spree, and Chip learns the hard way just how deranged the love of his life really is. The new film from Troma alum Trent Haaga blends wicked comedy with pure pulp thrills for a no-holds-barred blast of insanity!
Bad Day for the Cut (Well Go USA, Blu-ray)
In this witty and ultra-violent thriller, a mild-mannered farmer sets off on a bloody quest for vengeance after his elderly mother is murdered. As he tracks her killers through the criminal underworld of Belfast, he begins to realize that there was a darker side to his beloved mother – and to himself.
Friend Request (Lionsgate, Blu/Digital & DVD)
When a college student unfriends a mysterious girl online, she finds herself fighting a demonic presence that wants to make her lonely by killing her closest friends.
Hectic Knife (Troma Entertainment, Blu-ray)
Hectic Knife is the story of Hectic Knife, a new kind of superhero! Follow him on his bloody adventure through the scum filled streets as he slays bad guys, girlfriends and bagels!? Hectic Knife is a crazy, unforgettable comedy that’ll blow your brains out!
Special Features:
- Intro by Lloyd Kaufman
- Deleted Scenes and Blooper Reel
- 2 Audio Commentaries
- Theatrical Trailer
- Original Short Films and more Tromatic Extras!
IT (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, 4K Ultra HD/Blu/Digital & Blu/DVD/Digital)
The horror thriller “IT,” directed by Andrés Muschietti (“Mama”), is based on the hugely popular Stephen King novel of the same name, which has been terrifying readers for decades. When children begin to disappear in the town of Derry, Maine, a group of young kids is faced with their biggest fears when they square off against an evil clown named Pennywise, whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Pennywise Lives!
- The Losers' Club
- Author of Fear
- Deleted Scenes
Nails (MPI Home Video, DVD)
NAILS is the stunning directorial debut of Dennis Bartok, a screenwriter, author, journalist and film company executive. His edge-of-the-seat drama, co-written by Tom Abrams, centers on Dana Milgrom (Shauna Macdonald, Filth, Moon Dogs), a track coach and mother who has survived a near-death car accident, only to find herself paralyzed and trapped inside her own body. While struggling to regain control of her life, Dana is confronted with a vindictive spirit; a terrifying presence called Nails, whom she is convinced exists inside her hospital room.
Faced with skepticism from her husband, doctors and the staff, and believed to be suffering from a mental breakdown, Dana is left struggling to keep her grip on reality as the targeted attacks grow increasingly violent. To save her marriage and her life, Dana must find a way to convince her family that Nails is real before he succeeds in destroying her and everyone who stands in his way.
The Witches: Special Edition (Arrow Academy)
In the mid-sixties, famed producer Dino De Laurentiis brought together the talents of five celebrated Italian directors for an anthology film. Their brief was simple: to direct an episode in which Silvana Mangano (Bitter Rice, Ludwig) plays a witch.
Luchino Visconti (Ossessione, Death in Venice) and screenwriter Cesare Zavattini (Bicycle Thieves) open the film with The Witch Burned Alive, about a famous actress and a drunken evening that leads to unpleasant revelations. Civic Sense is a lightly comic interlude from Mauro Bolognini (The Lady of the Camelias) with a dark conclusion, and The Earth as Seen from the Moon sees Italian comedy legend Totò team up with Pier Paolo Pasolini (Theorem) for the first time for a tale of matrimony and a red-headed father and son. Franco Rosso (The Woman in the Painting) concocts a story of revenge in The Sicilian’s Wife, while Vittorio De Sica (Shoeshine) casts Clint Eastwood as Mangano’s estranged husband in An Evening Like the Others, concluding The Witches with a stunning homage to Italian comic books.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
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.
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