April 18th looks to be another fun day of home entertainment releases for genre fans, as we have an excellent variety of films—both old and new—coming home to Blu-ray and DVD. M. Night Shyamalan’s psychological thriller Split makes its way to both formats on Tuesday courtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and Arrow Video is keeping busy with a trio of Blu-rays: The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, and their four-disc set celebrating Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko.
Other notable releases for April 18th include Scream Factory’s stellar collector’s edition of Tales From the Hood, Contamination .7, The Handmaid’s Tale, and The Mephisto Waltz from Kino Lorber.
Donnie Darko: 4-Disc Limited Edition Set (Arrow Video, Blu-ray)
Fifteen years before Stranger Things, Richard Kelly set the template and the high-water mark with his debut feature, Donnie Darko. Initially beset with distribution problems, it would slowly find its audience and emerge as arguably the first cult classic of the new millennium.
Donnie is a troubled high school student: in therapy, prone to sleepwalking and in possession of an imaginary friend, a six-foot rabbit named Frank, who tells him the world is going to end in 28 days 06 hours 42 minutes and 12 seconds. During that time he will navigate teenage life, narrowly avoid death in the form of a falling jet engine, follow Frank's maladjusted instructions and try to maintain the space-time continuum.
Described by its director as ''The Catcher in the Rye as told by Philip K. Dick'', Donnie Darko combines an eye-catching, eclectic cast pre-stardom Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, heartthrob Patrick Swayze, former child star Drew Barrymore, Oscar nominees Mary McDonnell and Katharine Ross, and ER star Noah Wyle and an evocative soundtrack of 80s classics by Echo and the Bunnymen, Tears for Fears and Duran Duran. This brand-new 4K restoration, carried out exclusively for this release by Arrow Films, allows a modern classic to finally receive the home video treatment it deserves.
LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:
Split (Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Blu/DVD/Digital HD & DVD)
Writer/director/producer M. Night Shyamalan returns with an original thriller that delves into the mysterious recesses of one man's fractured, gifted mind. Though Kevin (James McAvoy) has revealed 23 personalities to his psychiatrist, there remains one still submerged who is set to materialize and dominate all the others. Compelled to abduct three teenage girls, Kevin reaches a war for survival among all of those contained within him – as well as everyone around him – as the walls between his compartments shatter apart.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Tales from the Hood: Collector’s Edition (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
Welcome to the hood of horrors! It’s a place where your worst fears can come to life. A place where it’s hard to tell nightmares from reality. A place where you will discover Tales From The Hood.
Stack, Ball and Bulldog arrive at a local funeral parlor to retrieve a lost drug stash held by the mortician Mr. Simms (Clarence Williams III). But Mr. Simms has plans for the boys. He leads them on a tour of his establishment, introducing them to his corpses. Even the dead have tales to tell and Mr. Simms is willing to tell them all. And you better listen: because when you’re in the hood, even everyday life can lead to extraordinary terror.
ALSO AVAILABLE THIS WEEK:
Contamination .7 (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
The Handmaid’s Tale (Shout Select, Blu-ray)
The Mephisto Waltz (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray)
The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (Arrow Video, Blu-ray)
The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (Arrow Video, Blu-ray)
The Watcher (Monarch Home Video, 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.
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