Happy Monday, dear readers! We have one last group of horror and sci-fi home media releases arriving before we say goodbye to January, and I hope your wallets are prepared for just how many killer releases are heading home this weekend, because there’s a lot of great titles that are arriving this Tuesday.

In terms of new genre projects, Synchronic from Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead as well as Come Play are both headed to Blu-ray and DVD, and if the release of the Godzilla vs. Kong trailer this weekend got you hyped for some kaiju action, Arrow Video is showing some love to Gamera this week with two different limited edition sets: Gamera: The Heisei Era and Gamera: The Showa Era. Arrow has also put together one of my most anticipated home media releases ever, a brand-new two-disc special edition set for Southland Tales (featuring the Cannes cut, which I have always wanted to see) and Vinegar Syndrome is keeping busy this Tuesday with several excellent releases as well, including Fade to Black, Forgotten Gialli: Volume 1, Don’t Panic, and Silent Madness in 3D.

Other releases for January 26th include Impetigore, The AGFA Horror Trailer Show, The Curious Dr. Humpp, Family Portraits, and Ghost Light.

The AGFA Horror Trailer Show (AGFA, Blu-ray)

Unleashed from the dungeon of the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA), THE AGFA HORROR TRAILER SHOW is a senses-shattering compilation of the most spine-ripping, slime-slinging, soul-shredding horror trailers that you've never seen. Meticulously constructed by the mad scientists at AGFA to resemble an otherworldly night at the drive-in, this mixtape features rare trailers, commercials, and ephemera from the vaults -- most of which has never been seen since its original release. And it's all presented via a 2K scan from a newly struck 35mm theatrical film print of the show! Plus: The journey continues with THE AGFA HORROR TRAILER SHOW: VIDEORAGE, a full-length mixtape created exclusively for this release.

Bonus Features:

  1. Region Free Blu-ray
  2. Newly scanned & restored in 2k from a newly struck 35mm theatrical print
  3. Commentary with the AGFA team
  4. Short: SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR BRAIN, a found footage horror experiment
  5. Bonus Movie: THE AGFA HORROR TRAILER SHOW: VIDEORAGE, a full-length mixtape celebrating the wildest shot-on-video and direct-to-video trailers from AGFA's video dungeon
  6. Reversible cover artwork
  7. English SDH subtitles

Come Play (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, Blu/Digital & DVD)

Desperate for a friend, Oliver (Azhy Robertson), a lonely young boy who feels different from everyone else, seeks solace and refuge in his ever-present cell phone and tablet. When a mysterious creature uses Oliver's devices against him to break into our world, Oliver's parents (Gillian Jacobs and John Gallagher Jr.) must fight to save their son from the monster beyond the screen.

The Curious Dr. Humpp (AGFA, Blu-ray)

THE CURIOUS DR. HUMPP isn't a movie -- it's a rite of passage. Easily one of the most brainbreaking sensory overloads in exploitation history, the story follows Dr. Humpp and his army of grotesque monsters as they kidnap couples and drain their "blood forces of sex" to keep the doctor eternally young. Directed by the prolific Emilio Vieyra in Argentina, this movie combines artful gothic horror with unhinged sex, comic book pulp, and a talking brain in a jar. Plus a monster who plays the guitar. Basically, this is what might have happened if Mario Bava collaborated with Doris Wishman after an acid binge. AGFA + Something Weird are thrilled to present a brand new restoration of this iconic sex-horror classic, complete with a new commentary track from filmmaker Frank Henenlotter (BASKET CASE). Plus LA VENGANZA DEL SEXO, Vieyra's original "horror" cut of THE CURIOUS DR. HUMPP in its original Spanish language -- available for the first time ever on home video with English subtitles!

Bonus Features:

  1. Region Free Blu-ray
  2. Newly scanned & restored in 2k from its 35mm internegative
  3. Commentary track with filmmaker Frank Henenlotter (BASKET CASE)
  4. Bonus Movie: LA VENGANZA DEL SEXO - 2K restoration of the original cut of THE CURIOUS DR. HUMPP from a 35mm fine grain lab print
  5. Brain damaged shorts and trailers from Dr. Humpp's laboratory
  6. Reversible cover artwork
  7. English SDH subtitles

Fade to Black (Vinegar Syndrome, Blu-ray)

Eric Binford lives for, and if he could have it his way 'in', the movies. He works at a 35mm print depot as a delivery boy, but spends all of his free time watching classic films and collecting Hollywood memorabilia. Endlessly tormented by his colleagues, Eric drifts further and further into a dream world wherein he embodies the silver screen characters he so deeply worships. However, when the teasing pushes him too far, he snaps and literally goes into character, donning the outfits of his big screen idols and slowly but surely killing off his tormentors in outrageous recreations of his favorite film scenes...

A slasher that's profoundly infused with cinephilia and old Hollywood iconography from its first frame to its last, Vernon Zimmerman's (Bobby Jo and the Outlaw) FADE TO BLACK is an often haunting examination of the terror that can occur when fantasy and reality collide. Starring Dennis Christopher (Breaking Away, the original 'It') alongside Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler), and featuring cinematography by Álex Phillips Jr. (Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia), FADE TO BLACK is a masterpiece of psychological horror that's making its long overdue, worldwide Blu-ray debut from Vinegar Syndrome in a new 4K restoration of recently uncovered 35mm negative elements.

Bonus Features:

  1. Region Free Blu-ray
  2. Newly scanned & restored in 4k from 35mm negative elements
  3. Commentary track with lead actor Dennis Christopher
  4. Commentary track with The Hysteria Continues!
  5. Historical commentary track with film historians Amanda Reyes and Bill Ackerman
  6. "Living & Dying for the Movies" - an interview with lead actor Dennis Christopher
  7. "Celluloid Heroes" - an interview with executive producer Irwin Yablans
  8. "Taking the Hits" - an interview with special effects artist Wayne Beauchamp
  9. "A Shiny Quality" - an interview with actress Marcie Barkin
  10. "Experimenting with Sound" - an interview with composer Craig Safan
  11. "Finishing the Story" - an interview with editor Barbara Pokras
  12. "A Brush with Darkness" - an interview with stylist Patricia Bunch
  13. Audio interview with lead actress Linda Kerridge
  14. Still Gallery
  15. Original theatrical trailer
  16. Reversible cover artwork
  17. English SDH subtitles

Forgotten Gialli: Volume 1 (Vinegar Syndrome, Blu-ray)

The giallo remains one of the most popular sub-genres in Italian & Spanish film history. But for all of the well-known and classic films the genre has spawned, so many others have been nearly impossible to enjoy since their theatrical debuts. This first entry in our 'Forgotten Gialli' series presents three rarities, none of which have ever been legally available in the U.S.

TRAUMA: Daniel, a writer seeking seclusion to work on his new book, finds himself stranded at a rural bed & breakfast run by a strange and prudish young woman and her ailing, wheelchair-bound husband who remains shut in his room all day. However, as night falls, a psychotic, razor-wielding killer begins stalking the B&B, brutally slashing the throats of its most sex-crazed guests, whose bodies and luggage then mysteriously disappear the following morning.

A satisfyingly trashy low-budget Spanish giallo, which inadvertently also ranks as one of the country's earliest proto-slashers, León Klimovsky's TRAUMA aka Violación Fatal is filled with gratuitous sex and nudity, along with bloody killings. Barely released outside of Spain, Vinegar Syndrome presents TRAUMA, on Blu-ray, in a brand new 2K restoration of its camera negative and in its longest version ever presented on home video.

THE KILLER IS ONE OF 13: A recent widow has invited a group of family friends to her large and secluded country home. However, what the guests don't know is that they've been assembled because their host suspects one of them might be her husband's killer and is intent on uncovering the identity of his murderer. As the guests begin to suspect each other, revealing long kept and sinister secrets in the process, an unknown, black-gloved killer begins bumping them off in a variety of nasty ways.

A unique Spanish take on Agatha Christie's oft-adapted novel And Then There Were None, exploitation auteur Javier Aguirre's THE KILLER IS ONE OF 13 is uncharacteristically literary-in-structure, but never skimps on its requisite bloodshed. Featuring some of Spain's top genre film stars including Patty Shepard, Jack Taylor, and Paul Naschy, Vinegar Syndrome brings this to Blu-ray, newly restored in 2K from its original negative and available in North America for the first time in any format.

THE POLICE ARE BLUNDERING IN THE DARK: A young nude-model is violently stabbed to death with a pair of scissors. It soon emerges that three other women have already fallen prey to this unknown maniac, and that all three victims have a single and unique connection: they all served as models for an eccentric photographer named Parisi. When another young woman with a date to be photographed is murdered, her journalist boyfriend decides to investigate the crimes and quickly finds himself mixed up with Parisi, who reveals that he's working on a camera capable of photographing people's thoughts!

The only film credit from 'one-and-done' director, Helia Colombo, THE POLICE ARE BLUNDERING IN THE DARK is a satisfyingly sleazy and decidedly oddball giallo rarity, filled with bloody killings, plentiful nudity, wild plot twists, and plenty of general weirdness. Unseen outside of its native Italy, Vinegar Syndrome presents this gem in a fresh, 2K restoration of its original negative and in its first official home video release anywhere in the world.

Bonus Features:

  1. 3-disc Region Free Blu-ray Set

2.Newly scanned & restored in 2k from their 35mm original negatives

  1. Original language tracks w/ newly translated English subtitles
  2. Promotional image galleries
  3. TRAUMA: Commentary w/ Troy Howarth
  4. THE KILLER IS ONE OF 13: Commentary w/ Diabolique Magazine's Kat Ellinger
  5. THE POLICE ARE BLUNDERING IN THE DARK: Audio essay w/ Rachael Nisbet
  6. Reversible cover art
  7. English SDH subtitles

Gamera: The Heisei Era - 4 Disc Special Edition (Arrow Video, Blu-ray)

After laying dormant for fifteen years, Gamera was rebooted for the big screen in a smash hit trilogy masterminded by director Shusuke Kaneko, writer Kazunori Ito and SFX director Shinji Higuchi.

Trading the campy kid-friendly surrealism of the earlier films for a darker, more realistic tone and jaw-dropping innovative special effects, the Heisei trilogy are still regarded today as three of the best if not the very best kaiju films ever made.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:

  • High Definition (1080p) transfers of all four films on Blu-ray, including 4K restorations of the Heisei Trilogy by Kadokawa Pictures
  • Original Japanese and dubbed English DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 audio for all films
  • Optional English subtitles for all films
  • Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Frank

DISC ONE GAMERA THE GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE:

  • Commentary by Matt Frank
  • Newly filmed introduction by August Ragone
  • A Testimony of 15 Years: Part 1, the first in an epic three-part documentary interviewing cast and crew of the Heisei Trilogy
  • Interviews with director Shusuke Kaneko and SFX director Shinji Higuchi, filmed by Jörg Buttgereit in 2002
  • Extended interview with Shinji Higuchi, focusing on the trilogy s special effects
  • Behind the scenes featurettes tracing the film’s production from announcement to release
  • Alternate English credits
  • Trailer and image galleries

DISC TWO GAMERA 2: ATTACK OF LEGION:

  • Commentary by Kyle Yount
  • Newly filmed introduction by August Ragone
  • A Testimony of 15 Years: Part 2, the next part of the documentary interviewing cast and crew of the Heisei Trilogy
  • On-set footage from the shooting of the film’s main unit and special effects filming
  • Behind the scenes featurettes tracing the film s production from announcement to release
  • Alternate English credits
  • Lake Texarkana comedic dub track
  • Trailer and image galleries

DISC THREE GAMERA 3: REVENGE OF IRIS:

  • Commentary by Steve Ryfle & Ed Godziszewski
  • Newly filmed introduction by August Ragone
  • A Testimony of 15 Years: Part 3, the final part of the documentary interviewing cast and crew of the Heisei Trilogy
  • Behind the scenes featurettes tracing the film’s production from announcement to release
  • Deleted Scenes
  • The Awakening of Irys (Remix), a montage of behind-the-scenes footage and work-in-progress special effects footage
  • Alternate English credits
  • Trailer and image galleries

DISC FOUR GAMERA THE BRAVE:

  • Commentary by Keith Aiken & Bob Johnson
  • How to Make a Gamera Movie, a featurette hosted by director Ryuta Tasaki
  • Behind The Scenes of Gamera the Brave, an all-access on-set documentary
  • The Men That Made Gamera, a documentary looking back at the series from start to finish, featuring interviews with cast and crew
  • Opening Day Premiere, a featurette showing the cast and crew presenting the film at its first showing
  • Kaho’s Summer, an interview with the film s young star
  • Special Effects Supercut, a montage of effects shots overseen by FX supervisor Hajime Matsumoto
  • Trailer and image galleries

Gamera: The Showa Era - 4 Disc Special Edition (Arrow Video, Blu-ray)

As giant monsters rampaged the Japanese cinematic landscape during the kaiju boom of the mid-1960s, Daiei Studios introduced a new character to the screen that would be embraced for generations: Gamera, the giant, flying, fire-breathing turtle, and friend of all children! Buried under the Arctic ice for several millennia, the colossal chelonian is unleashed upon Japan, leaving havoc in his wake. After becoming an unexpected box office sensation, Gamera returned several more times, leaping to the world’s defence against a motley assortment of evil creatures, from the death-ray-shooting flying terror Gyaos, to the knife-headed alien menace Guiron, to the underwater invader Zigra!

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:

  • High Definition (1080p) transfers of all eight Showa-era Gamera films on Blu-ray
  • Lossless original Japanese and dubbed English mono audio for all films
  • Optional English subtitles for all films
  • Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Frank

DISC ONE GAMERA THE GIANT MONSTER:

  • Commentary and newly filmed introduction by August Ragone
  • High Definition (1080p) transfer of Gammera the Invincible, the American theatrical version of the film, with lossless mono audio and optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
  • Remembering the Gamera Series, an archive featurette from 1991, including interviews with director Noriaki Yuasa, writer Nisan Takahashi and others
  • Interview with Noriaki Yuasa, filmed by Jörg Buttgereit in 2002
  • Gamera Special, an hour-long best-of compilation supervised by Noriaki Yuasa in 1991
  • Alternate English credits
  • Trailer and image galleries

DISC TWO GAMERA VS. BARUGON / GAMERA VS. GYAOS:

  • Commentary on Gamera vs. Barugon by August Ragone & Jason Varney
  • Commentary on Gamera vs. Gyaos by Stuart Galbraith IV
  • Newly filmed introductions to both films by August Ragone
  • High Definition (1080p) transfer of War of the Monsters, the shorter American edit of Gamera vs. Barugon, with lossless English audio
  • Alternate English credits for both films
  • Trailer and image galleries

DISC THREE GAMERA VS. VIRAS / GAMERA VS. GUIRON:

  • Choice of three different versions of Gamera vs. Viras via seamless branching
  • Commentary on Gamera vs. Viras by Carl Craig and Jim Cirronella
  • Commentary on Gamera vs. Guiron by David Kalat
  • Newly filmed introductions to both films by August Ragone
  • New featurette with actor Carl Craig showing his souvenirs and props from Gamera vs. Viras
  • Highlights from the G-FEST X convention in 2003, featuring Noriaki Yuasa and Carl Craig
  • The 4th Nippon Jamboree, a promotional film for the Boy Scouts of Japan directed by Yuasa in 1966
  • Alternate English credits for both films
  • Trailer and image galleries

DISC FOUR GAMERA VS. JIGER / GAMERA VS. ZIGRA / GAMERA SUPER MONSTER:

  • Commentary on Gamera vs. Jiger by Edward L. Holland
  • Commentary by Gamera vs. Zigra by Sean Rhoads & Brooke McCorkle
  • Commentary on Gamera Super Monster by Richard Pusateri
  • Newly filmed introductions to all three films by August Ragone
  • Alternate English credits for all three films
  • Trailer and image galleries

Impetigore (RLJE Films, Blu-ray)

Feeling down on her luck and low on funds, Maya’s spirits are lifted when she discovers her family home still remains in the village she grew up in. She enlists the help of her best friend to go back to her hometown and claim her inheritance. But Maya is unaware that the people who live in the village have actually been trying to kill her to remove the curse that’s plagued them for years. In order to make it out alive, Maya must unravel the twisted truth of her past.

Silent Madness 3D (Vinegar Syndrome, Blu-ray)

When a glitch in the computer system at an asylum for the criminally insane results in the release of the wrong patient - a giant-in-stature homicidal maniac named Howard Johns who has a penchant for killing college coeds - it's up to one of the institute's top doctors to track him down. Unfortunately, it's not just Howard she has to worry about, as the administration of the asylum has decided to cover up the error to avoid bad press, going as far as to hire a duo of thugs to permanently 'silence' the good doctor. Soon enough, Howard finds his way back to the sorority house he once terrorized and sets out to murder the latest batch of nubile coeds who have taken up residence in the stately manor.

One of the few slashers produced during the short-lived, early 80s revival of 3D movies, Simon Nuchtern's (Savage Dawn) SILENT MADNESS knows exactly what audiences want, and delivers. Heavily gelled lighting and excellent use of 3-D photography, from Gerald Feil (Friday the 13th Part III), elevate the high body count drive-in classic, which stars Belinda Montgomery (TRON: Legacy), Viveca Lindfors (Creepshow), and career stuntman, Solly Marx (Phantasm II) as the the diabolical Howard Johns. Never officially released on disc and nearly impossible to see in its original scope and 3-D version, Vinegar Syndrome presents SILENT MADNESS on Blu-ray, newly restored from its original 3-D negative and presented in Digital 3-D (which mirrors the theatrical experience), Flat (2-D), and Anaglyph 3-D, which you can enjoy with your custom pair of 3-D glasses, included with this disc!

Bonus Features:

  1. Region Free Blu-ray (2-disc Set)
  2. Includes two pairs of Silent Madness themed 3-D glasses
  3. Newly scanned & restored in 4k from its 35mm negative
  4. Three viewing options: Digital 3-D (requires a 3-D capable TV and player), Anaglyph 3-D (works on all TVs with included 3-D glasses) and regular Flat 2-D
  5. Newly recorded commentary track with director Simon Nuchtern, moderated by author Michael Gingold
  6. Commentary track with The Hysteria Continues!
  7. "Method to the Madness" - a 45 minute making-of documentary featuring interviews with the cast and crew
  8. Deleted interviews from "Method to the Madness"
  9. "Silent Stalking Grounds" - locations featurette
  10. Introduction by director Simon Nuchtern
  11. Promotional 3-D sizzle reel for Silent Madness
  12. Promotional & behind-the-scenes still gallery
  13. Multiple radio spots
  14. Reversible cover artwork

 

Southland Tales: 2-Disc Special Edition (Arrow Video, Blu-ray)

THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS

In 2001, writer/director Richard Kelly achieved cult status with Donnie Darko, an assured debut feature exploring deep existential questions through the lens of 80s nostalgia. Five years later, he followed up with a more ambitious and even more beguiling sophomore effort, in which forces of totalitarianism and anarchism collide against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic, near-future world the beguiling and baffling Southland Tales.

Los Angeles, 2008. As the city stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental chaos, the fates of an eclectic set of characters including an amnesia-stricken action star (Dwayne Johnson, the Fast & Furious series), an adult film star developing her own reality TV project (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Cruel Intentions) and a police officer whose identity has split in two (Seann William Scott, TV’s Lethal Weapon) intertwine with each other and with the whole of humanity.

A darkly comic futuristic epic that speaks as presciently to our turbulent times as it did to the American socio-political climate in 2006, Southland Tales receives a fresh and timely lease of life with this new, director-approved restoration.

2-DISC LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:

  • New 2K restoration by Arrow Films, approved by director Richard Kelly and director of photography Steven Poster
  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of both versions of the film: the 145-minute theatrical cut and the 160-minute Cannes cut , which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006
  • Original lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and PCM 2.0 stereo soundtracks
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Audio commentary on the theatrical cut by Richard Kelly
  • It’s a Madcap World: The Making of an Unfinished Film, a new in-depth retrospective documentary on the film, featuring contributions by Richard Kelly and members of the original crew
  • USIDent TV: Surveilling the Southland, an archival featurette on the making of the film, featuring interviews with the cast and crew
  • This is the Way the World Ends, an archival animated short set in the Southland Tales universe
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Image gallery
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jacey
  • Limited edition collector's booklet featuring new writing by Peter Tonguette and Simon Ward

Synchronic (Well Go USA, Blu-ray & DVD)

When New Orleans paramedics and longtime best friends Steve (Anthony Mackie) and Dennis (Jamie Dornan) are called to a series of bizarre, gruesome accidents, they chalk it up to the mysterious new party drug found at the scene. But after Dennis s oldest daughter suddenly disappears, Steve stumbles upon a terrifying truth about the supposed psychedelic that will challenge everything he knows about reality and the flow of time itself.

BONUS FEATURES:

  • Commentary with Directors and Producer
  • Making of
  • Previsualization
  • VFX Breakdown
  • Deleted Scene
  • Alternate Ending
  • Trailers

ALSO AVAILABLE THIS WEEK:

Don’t Panic (Vinegar Syndrome, Blu-ray)

Family Portraits (Severin Films, Blu-ray)

Ghost Light (Gravitas Ventures, Blu-ray & DVD)

Solar Impact (Vision Films, DVD)

  • Heather Wixson
    About the Author - Heather Wixson

    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.