Hey everyone! While Valentine’s Day is almost over, we’re sure you’ll still have a lot of love for this week’s horror and science fiction home media releases. One of this writer's favorite films of all time, Joe Dante’s The Howling, is getting the 4K treatment from Scream Factory in a brand new release, and if you’re into time-bending sci-fi/action thrillers, you’ll definitely want to pick up the 4K release of Rian Johnson’s Looper as well.
Other releases for February 15th include Ghostriders, Cosmic Dawn, Settlers, Nezura 1964, Apparitions, The Devil Came Home, and The Skulls Trilogy on Blu-ray.
Cosmic Dawn (Cranked Up Films, Blu-ray)
After witnessing the alien abduction of her mother as a child, Aurora (Camille Rowe) joins the UFO cult “The Cosmic Dawn.” At the cult’s remote compound Aurora experiences miraculous revelations and consciousness-expanding flowers, but all isn’t as it seems with the cult’s leader, Elyse (Antonia Zegers). Now moved on from the cult, Aurora is forced to confront her past and pursue the ultimate truth about The Cosmic Dawn.
Ghostriders (MVD Rewind, Blu-ray)
Revenge is a hearty meal for phantoms of the prairie! On a dark and haunting night, all that is visible by the campfire light is the breath of vicious lawmen. The local preacher and townspeople gather on a lonesome prairie as the lawless career of desperado Frank Clements is about to end. Just as the hangman's noose tightens around his neck, the most feared outlaw of 1888 shouts a curse of revenge on the town preacher - a curse which will haunt the preacher's family through generations. One hundred years later, unsuspecting of the events in 1888, the town is prospering. Frank Clements and his gang return from hell to seek revenge against the preacher's grandson and his family. The fight against the phantoms from the past proves futile, and they become unwilling victims of bloodthirsty outlaws. Weapons are defenseless against the phantom cowboys - you can't kill what's already dead!
The Howling 4K Collector’s Edition (Scream Factory, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray)
From the director of Gremlins and Piranha comes the ultimate masterpiece of primal terror. Severely shaken after a near-fatal encounter with a serial killer, TV newscaster Karen White (Dee Wallace, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial) takes some much-needed time off. Hoping to conquer her inner demons, she heads for "the Colony," a secluded retreat where her new neighbors are just a tad too eager to make her feel at home. Also, there seems to be a bizarre link between her would-be attacker and this supposedly safe haven. And when, after nights of being tormented by savage shrieks and unearthly cries, Karen ventures into the forest to find answers, she makes a terrifying discovery. Now she must fight not only for her life…but for her very soul!
Bonus Content:
Looper 4K (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray/Digital)
In the futuristic action thriller Looper, time travel will be invented – but it will be illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past, where a “looper” – a hired gun, like Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) – is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good… until the day the mob decides to “close the loop,” sending back Joe's future self (Bruce Willis) for assassination.
Nezura 1964: Special Edition (SRS Cinema, Blu-ray)
1963 Summer. Nagano, the president of the Daiei Film Company, is in need of a new hit movie. He’s convinced by his special effects director Tsukaji to make a giant monster motion picture - but to outdo the studios’ competitors, not just any monster movie, but a “Giant Horde Beast” feature. Along with veteran director Muraoka, assistant director Yukawa, and producer Shigeo, they set out to make a movie “in which hundreds of giant rats attack a city". Successful test footage is shot, and the new movie is set for production... However, disaster looms. And when the movie shoot is canceled and the animals destroyed, an ever bigger threat emerges...
Settlers (IFC Films, Blu-ray & DVD)
Mankind's earliest settlers on the Martian frontier do what they must to survive the cosmic elements and each other in this science-fiction thrill ride.
ALSO AVAILABLE THIS WEEK:
Apparitions (4Digital Media, DVD)
The Devil Came Home (Archstone, DVD)
Hostel 3-Movie Collection (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, DVD)
The Skulls Trilogy (Mill Creek Entertainment, 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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