This third week of April has some exciting home entertainment offerings for us genre fans, including the special edition releases of two cult classics I adore, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and The Stuff. An indie film I’ve been hearing about for a while now, Grimewave, also makes its way to DVD this Tuesday and while it may not be traditional horror, Oscar-winner The Revenant certainly has enough badassery contained within its cinematic frames to be worthy of mentioning this week, and it arrives on both Blu-ray and DVD on April 19th.
Other notable releases this week include Smothered (which features a ton of horror icons and was directed by John Schneider of Smallville and Dukes of Hazzard fame), 15 Till Midnight, Classroom 6, Ip Man 3, German Angst and She Wolf Rising.
Grimewave (Wild Eye Raw, DVD)
When the legendary, unstoppable serial killer CFK stumbles upon a drug deal, he accidentally enters the dark and violent world of New Orleans crime. Two rival gangs stop their ongoing war in order to recruit assassins, dirty cops, and mystical ninjas in an attempt to destroy CFK before he kills everyone in sight! An insane, nasty, gnarly and disgusting combination of Friday the 13th and Salo!
The Stuff Special Edition (Arrow Video, Blu-ray)
Are you eating it ...or is it eating you? The Stuff is the new dessert taking supermarket shelves by storm. It s delicious, low in calories and better still doesn’t stain the family carpet... What’s not to like?! Well, for a start it has a life of its own, and we re not talking friendly live bacteria...
Young Jason seems to be the only one who doesn’t love The Stuff, in fact he won’t go anywhere near it, after having seen the pudding crawling around the fridge one night. What’s more, everyone who eats The Stuff has started acting really weird... Now, teaming up with wise-cracking industrial saboteur Mo, Jason must put a stop to The Stuff and the organization behind it or face a gooey, gloopy demise.
Coming courtesy of horror auteur Larry Cohen (director of the It’s Alive series and scribe behind the Maniac Cop trilogy), The Stuff is a titillating treat for the taste-buds, which blends elements of films such as Street Trash with the straight-up B-movie flavor of The Blob. So grab a spoon and dig on into The Stuff, the taste that delivers... much more than you bargained for!
Special Features include New High Definition restoration of the film from a brand new 2K scan of the original camera negative, Original stereo 1.0 uncompressed PCM Mono audio, Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing, Can’t Get Enough of The Stuff: Making Larry Cohen’s Classic Creature Feature Documentary featuring Larry Cohen, producer Paul Kurta, actress Andrea Marcovicci, Steve Neill (mechanical makeup effects) and Kim Newman, Introduction and trailer commentary by director and The Stuff fan Darren Bousman (Saw II, Saw III), Original Trailer, Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin, Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Joel Harley, illustrated with original stills and promotional materials.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 Collector’s Edition (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
A retired Texas Ranger pursues a killer named Leatherface and his family of chainsaw-wielding cannibals.
Special Features Include:
Disc 1: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part Two (New HD Transfer)
-2016 2K HD scan of the inter-positive film element
-Audio commentary with director of photography Richard Kooris, production designer Cary White, script supervisor Laura Kooris, and property master Michael Sullivan
-Audio commentary with director Tobe Hooper
-Audio commentary with actors Bill Moseley, Caroline Williams, and special effects makeup creator Tom Savini
-Extended outtakes from “It Runs in the Family” featuring L.M. Kit Carson and Lou Perryman (30 minutes)
-Behind-the-scenes footage compilation from Tom Savini’s archives (43 minutes)
-Alternate opening credit sequence
-Deleted Scenes
-Still galleries including posters and lobby cards, behind-the-scenes photos, stills, and collector’s gallery
-Theatrical trailers
-TV spots
Disc 2: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part Two (Original HD Transfer)
-MGM’s original HD Master with color correction supervision by director of photography Richard Kooris
-“House of Pain:” An interview with make-up effects artists Bart Mixon, Gabe Bartalos, Gino Crognale, and John Vulich (42 minutes)
-“Yuppie Meat:” An interview with actors Chris Douridas and Barry Kinyon (19 minutes)
-“Cutting Moments:” An interview with editor Alain Jakubowicz (17 minutes)
-“Behind the Mask:” An interview with stunt-man and Leatherface performer Bob Elmore (14 minutes)
-“Horror’s Hallowed Grounds:” Revisiting the locations of the film, hosted by Sean Clark and a special guest (25 minutes)
-“It Runs in the Family:” A six part feature-length documentary featuring interviews with screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson, actors Bill Moseley, Caroline Williams, Bill Johnson, Lou Perryman, special makeup effects artist Tom Savini, and more… (84 minutes)
ALSO AVAILABLE THIS WEEK:
15 Till Midnight (ITN Distribution, DVD)
Bloody Wednesday (Film Chest, DVD)
Classroom 6 (108 Media, DVD)
German Angst (FilmRise, Blu-ray & DVD)
Gore Whore (SRS Cinema, DVD)
Gorotica (SRS Cinema, DVD)
Helga: She Wolf of Stilberg (Eurocine, DVD)
Ip Man 3 (Well Go USA, Blu-ray & DVD)
The Red Suit (Cyfuno Ventures, DVD)
The Revenant (20th Century Fox, Blu/Digital HD & DVD)
She Wolf Rising (Indie Rights, DVD)
Smothered (Indican Pictures, DVD)
The Wicked Woods (FilmRise, Blu-ray & DVD)
Yamishibai (Section 23, Blu-ray & DVD)