July’s home entertainment releases are ending on a high note this week, as we have tons of great horror and sci-fi titles coming our way this Tuesday. Scream Factory is keeping busy with a handful of Blu-rays on their docket this week, including Quatermass and the Pit, Quatermass 2, The Leopard Man, Lust for a Vampire, and a Steelbook edition of Humanoids from the Deep.
Roxanne Benjamin’s feature film debut, Body at Brighton Rock, is also being released this Tuesday on various formats, and Vinegar Syndrome is resurrecting both Hellmaster and Play Dead as well. And, if you happened to miss it in theaters, Deon Taylor’s The Intruder is set to invade your home media shelves this week as well.
Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for July 30th include What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Hotel Inferno and The Reptile.
Body at Brighton Rock (Magnolia Pictures, Blu-ray & DVD)
Wendy, a part-time summer employee at a mountainous state park, takes on a rough trail assignment at the end of the season, trying to prove to her friends that she’s capable enough to do the job. When she takes a wrong turn and ends up deep in the backcountry, she stumbles upon what might be a potential crime scene. Stuck with no communication after losing her radio and with orders to guard the site, Wendy must fight the urge to run and do the harder job of staying put — spending the night deep in the wilderness, facing down her worst fears and proving to everyone — including herself — that she’s stronger than she thinks.
Hellmaster: Special Edition (Vinegar Syndrome, Blu/DVD Combo)
Decades ago, deranged Professor Jones (John Saxon) concocted a diabolical drug at a rural college called 'The Nietzsche Experiment,' designed to give its users telepathic abilities, but instead turned anyone who took it into violent lunatics. Now, 20 years later, Jones has returned to resume his experiments and avenge himself against those he feels wronged him and his work. Armed with a group of hideously deformed mutant slaves, it's not long before the tranquil college becomes host to vicious violence and carnage.
A Detroit shot regional horror movie made at the decline of the direct-to-video era, HELLMASTER was the first feature from cult filmmaker Douglas Schulze (Dark Fields) and co-stars David Emge (Dawn of the Dead). Combining gothic horror and creature-filled narrative trappings with intensely colorful and Argento inspired visuals, courtesy of acclaimed cinematographer Michael Goi (American Horror Story), HELLMASTER was originally titled THEM, but was subsequently re-edited with new footage also added and released straight to video and cable several years after its initial completion. Vinegar Syndrome presents this fascinating slice of creature horror in its original theatrical THEM version for the first time on home video, along with its more commonly seen HELLMASTER recut, newly restored in 4k from its 35mm original negative under supervision from cinematographer Michael Goi.
Bonus Features:
1. Region Free Blu-ray/DVD combo
2. Newly scanned & restored in 4k from its 35mm original negative
3. Original Theatrical Version (as "THEM")
4. Director's recut version (as "HELLMASTER") (SD)
5. Director commentary for both versions
6. "Creating Reality" - an interview with cinematographer Michael Goi
7. Conceptual artwork gallery
8. Behind-the-scenes stills gallery
9. Archival locations featurette
10. Reversible cover artwork
11. English SDH subtitles
The Intruder (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Blu-ray & DVD)
When a young married couple (Michael Ealy and Meagan Good) buys their dream house in the Napa Valley, they think they have found the perfect home to take their next steps as a family. But when the strangely attached seller (Dennis Quaid) continues to infiltrate their lives, they begin to suspect that he has hidden motivations beyond a quick sale.
The Leopard Man (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
From legendary horror film producer Val Lewton (The Body Snatcher, Bedlam, The Ghost Ship) and from Jacques Tourneur, the director of the original Cat People, The Leopard Man is one of the first American films to attempt a remotely realistic portrayal of a serial killer.
Is it man, beast or both behind a string of savage maulings and murders? An escaped leopard provides the catalyst for a foray into fear in which a cemetery is the rendezvous for death and love, and a closed door heightens rather than hides the horror of a young girl’s fate. The Leopard Man once again teams producer Val Lewton with director Jacques Tourneur (Cat People). This thriller stars Dennis O’Keefe (T-Men, Raw Deal), Margo (Lost Horizon) and Jean Brooks (The Seventh Victim).
Special Features:
- NEW 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative
- NEW Audio Commentary with filmmaker/film historian Constantine Nasr
- Audio Commentary with filmmaker William Friedkin
- Theatrical Trailer
- Still Gallery
Quatermass and the Pit (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
Hobbs End, Knightsbridge, London. While working on a new subway tunnel for the London Underground, a group of construction workers uncover a strangely shaped skull. Nearby, another discovery: a large, mysterious and impenetrable metal object. Initially mistaken for an unexploded bomb, the object and its strange power turn out to be far more horrific than anybody could have possibly imagined. Is it of this earth? Could it be the ancestral link to mankind's evolution? Or could it be an ancient link to the unleashing of the ultimate evil? There's only one man capable of unraveling the clues, and his name is Professor Bernard Quatermass, a man of science who thrives on the dark mysteries of the world.
Special Features:
- NEW audio commentary with film historian Bruce G. Hallenbeck
- NEW audio commentary with filmmaker Constantine Nasr and author/film historian Steve Haberman
- NEW interview with actor Hugh Futcher
- NEW interview with Academy Award®-winning special effects artist Brian Johnson (Alien)
- NEW interview with clapper loader Trevor Coop
- NEW interview with focus puller Bob Jordan
- Interview with author Judith Kerr
- Interview with actor Julian Glover
- Interview with actor/writer Mark Gatiss
- Interview with filmmaker Joe Dante
- Interview with author/film historian Kim Newman
- Interview with author/Hammer Film historian Marcus Hearn
- Audio Commentary with director Roy Ward Baker and writer Nigel Kneale
- World of Hammer – Sci-Fi
- Theatrical Trailers
- TV Spots
- Alternate U.S. Credits
- Still Gallery
Quatermass 2 (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
QUATERMASS 2 (1957) is the second and most talked about of the three science fiction stories written by Nigel Kneale and based on his critically acclaimed 1955 BBC series. Professor Quatermass, played by Hollywood veteran Brian Donlevy (Beau Geste, The Glass Key) reprising his role from The Quatermass Xperiment, is Britain's most clever scientist. Investigating a series of bizarre incidents that have been reported from a deserted area, he finds a group of soldiers and government officials that appear to be controlled by aliens from another world. When a close friend is brutally murdered by these beings, Quatermass leads a mob of local workers to a showdown with the extraterrestrials. Directed by Val Guest (The Day the Earth Caught Fire) and produced by Anthony Hinds (The Curse of Frankenstein), QUATERMASS 2 was retitled Enemy From Space for its U.S. theatrical release.
Special Features:
- NEW 2K scan of a pristine archival film print
- NEW audio commentary with filmmaker/film historian Ted Newsom
- NEW audio commentary with author/film historian Steve Haberman and filmmaker/film historian Constantine Nasr
- NEW interview with Academy Award-winning special effects artist Brian Johnson (Alien)
- NEW interview with assistant director Hugh Harlow
- Vintage interview with director Val Guest
- Audio Commentary with director Val Guest and writer Nigel Kneale
- World of Hammer – Sci-Fi
- U.S. Theatrical Trailer – ENEMY OF SPACE
- Still Gallery
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Warner Archive Collection, Blu-ray)
Two icons from the golden age of Hollywood, Oscar® winners* Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, take their famous feud on-screen in Robert Aldrich's thriller. In fierce, no-holds-barred performances, Bette Davis portrays aging ex-child star Baby Jane Hudson while Joan Crawford plays Blanche, the crippled sister Jane torments psychologically. As the sisters descend into madness, the tension builds to a shocking ending in this unforgettable Academy Award®-winning** classic.
ALSO AVAILABLE THIS WEEK:
Hotel Inferno (Wild Eye Raw, DVD)
Humanoids from the Deep: Steelbook Edition (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
Lust for a Vampire (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
Play Dead (Vinegar Syndrome, Blu/DVD Combo)
The Reptile (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
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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