The final week of June shows no signs of slowing down when it comes to genre-related home entertainment releases, as we have over 20 titles coming our way on June 27th. For those of you who have an affection for cult cinema, I hope you have your wallets ready, as Scream Factory has three great films making their HD debuts: The Angry Red Planet, The Evictors, and The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake, and if that wasn’t enough, Blue Underground has resurrected Death Line (aka Raw Meat) in a special Blu/DVD combo, too. The Unholy is making its way to Blu-ray as well this week, via Lionsgate’s Vestron Video collection, and Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs is deservedly getting a Criterion Collection release on Tuesday.
As far as recent horror goes, fans can catch up with titles like The Belko Experiment, Berlin Syndrome (which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival), the haunting psychological thriller Sun Choke, Power Rangers, and The Autopsy of Jane Doe, which makes its way to both Blu-ray and DVD (it previously received a Walmart exclusive release, so fans can pick it up everywhere this week).
Other notable releases for June 27th include The Strain Season 3, The Similars, Nurse Sherri, Trespass, Victims, Feed the Light, and The Apple.
The Angry Red Planet (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
With Martians like the leggy and very hairy "batratspidercrab, ", plus flesh-eating plants and a rolling amoeba with rotating eyes, you’ll think twice before jumping into a spaceship: no matter where it’s headed.
When an Earth rocket lands on Mars, the crew finds the planet not entirely dead. As these well-armed scientists begin to explore, they are attacked by unbelievably horrific and demented creatures at every turn. Battling for their lives, the survivors make it back to their ship only to discover intelligent life - and a warning they’ll never forget!
The Belko Experiment (MGM Video & DVD, Blu-ray & DVD)
From writer, producer James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2), director Greg McLean (Wolf Creek, Rogue, The Darkness) and producer Peter Safran (The Conjuring, Annabelle), comes the story about a group of 80 American employees who are tested in a twisted social experiment of bone-crunching horror! Belko Industries, a normally calm workplace, gets a rude awakening when a mysterious voice on the intercom orders them to participate in a ruthless game of kill or be killed in a blood-soaking battle royale at their office building in Bogotá, Colombia. As the terror escalates, so does the body count. Everyone is a competitor and everyday objects become deadly weapons. Let the corporate carnage commence!
Berlin Syndrome (Lionsgate, DVD)
A passionate holiday romance takes an unexpected and sinister turn when Australian photojournalist Clare wakes up locked in Andi's Berlin apartment. And he has no intention of letting her go again. Ever.
Death Line (aka Raw Meat) (Blue Underground, Blu/DVD Combo)
Beneath Modern London Lives a Tribe of Once Humans. Neither Men nor Women... They are the Raw Meat of the Human Race!
When a prominent politician and a beautiful young woman vanish inside a London subway station, Scotland Yard's Inspector Calhoun (Donald Pleasence of HALLOWEEN) investigates and makes a horrifying discovery. Not only did a group of 19th century tunnel workers survive a cave-in, but they lived for years in a secret underground enclave by consuming the flesh of their own dead. Now the lone descendant of this grisly tribe has surfaced, prowling the streets for fresh victims... and a new mate.
Norman Rossington (A HARD DAY'S NIGHT), David Ladd (THE WILD GEESE), Sharon Gurney (CRUCIBLE OF HORROR), and the legendary Christopher Lee (HORROR OF DRACULA) also star in this heart-stopping horror classic co-written and directed by Gary Sherman (DEAD & BURIED). Originally recut and released as RAW MEAT in the United States, now DEATH LINE has been freshly transferred and fully restored in 2K from the original uncensored camera negative and comes fully loaded with exclusive new Extras produced for this release!
Special Features:
The Strain Season 3 (20th Century Fox, DVD)
The war between the bloodthirsty strigoi and the remaining human survivors of New York intensifies in the chilling third season of The Strain! Although Dr. Ephraim Goodweather’s (COREY STOLL) bioweapon initially helped stave off the vampiric creatures, they have evolved into a bigger threat to humanity than ever. Now, distraught over his kidnapped son, Eph teams with Dutch (RUTA GEDMINTAS) to search for signs of weakness in the strigoi. Meanwhile, Abraham Setrakian’s (DAVID BRADLEY) discovery of a mysterious shipment from Egypt brings a shocking realization in this pulse-pounding show filled with intense sci-fi action and thrilling plot twists.
Straw Dogs (Criterion Collection, Blu-ray)
In this thriller, arguably Sam Peckinpah’s most controversial film, David (Dustin Hoffman), a young American mathematician, moves with his English wife, Amy (Susan George), to the village where she grew up. Their sense of safety unravels as the local men David has hired to repair their house prove more interested in leering at Amy and intimidating David, beginning an agonizing initiation into the iron laws of violent masculinity that govern Peckinpah’s world. Working outside the U.S. for the first time, the filmmaker airlifts the ruthlessness of the western frontier into Cornwall in Straw Dogs, pushing his characters to their breaking points as the men brutalize Amy and David discovers how far he’ll go to protect his home culminating in a harrowing climax that lays out this cinematic mastermind’s eloquent and bloody vision of humanity.
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
-New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
-Audio commentary from 2003 by Stephen Prince, author of Savage Cinema: Sam Peckinpah and the Rise of Ultraviolent Movies
-Mantrap: Straw Dogs The Final Cut, a 2003 documentary about the making of the film, featuring cast and crew
-Sam Peckinpah: Man of Iron, a 1993 documentary about the director featuring actors Kris Kristofferson, Jason Robards, Ali MacGraw, and many others
-New conversation between film critic Michael Sragow and filmmaker Roger Spottiswoode, who worked as one of the editors on the film
-New interview with film scholar Linda Williams about the controversies surrounding the film
-Archival interviews with actor Susan George, producer Daniel Melnick, and Peckinpah biographer Garner Simmons
-Behind-the-scenes footage
-TV spots and trailers
-PLUS: An essay by scholar and critic Joshua Clover
The Unholy: Vestron Video Collector’s Series (Lionsgate, Blu-ray)
Father Michael is assigned to a New Orleans church where two priests have been murdered, to fight the ultimate evil.
Special Features:
ALSO AVAILABLE THIS WEEK:
6 Models in Hell (Bayview Entertainment, DVD)
The Apple (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray)
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (Scream Factory/IFC Midnight)
The Evictors (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
Feed the Light (Intervision, Blu-ray & DVD)
The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
Harvest Moon (IMD Film Distribution, DVD)
Land Shark (Camp Motion Pictures, DVD)
Nurse Sherri (Vinegar Syndrome, Blu/DVD Combo)
Power Rangers (Lionsgate, Blu/DVD/Digital HD Combo & DVD)
The Similars (XLRator, Blu-ray & DVD)
Sun Choke (XLRator, Blu-ray & DVD)
Trespass (Shout Select, Blu-ray)
Truth or Dare? (SRS Cinema, DVD)
Victims (Olive Films, Blu-ray & 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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