As we hit the midway point of October, we have a ton of new horror and sci-fi hitting Blu-ray and DVD this week, featuring a slew of new genre offerings and tons of cult classics. In terms of recent releases, Rob Zombie’s 3 From Hell arrives on Blu, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD this Tuesday, and if you happened to miss the latest from Alexandra Aja, Crawl is making its way onto both Blu and DVD (and is a film this writer highly recommends—perfect for some aquatic horror thrills this October).
Speaking of seasonal horror movies, Haunt comes home this week, and if you can’t get enough of Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Hill House, Lionsgate is putting out a special director’s edition release that fans are definitely going to want to pick up.
In terms of classic horror, Häxan is getting the Criterion treatment (and deservedly so), Kino Lorber is keeping busy with And Soon the Darkness, Sudden Terror, and The Queen of Spades, and Arrow Video has put together a special edition release for Killer Nun to boot. AGFA is resurrecting Scary Movie (1991) this Tuesday for their latest release, and for those of you who live to serve little Damien, you’ll definitely want to pick-up Scream Factory’s The Omen Collection box set.
Other releases for October 15th include Devil’s Revenge, The Noonday Witch, The Fearless Vampire Killers, and Deviant Behavior.
3 From Hell (Lionsgate, 4K Ultra HD/Blu/Digital Combo, Blu/Digital Combo & DVD)
First there was House of 1000 Corpses. Then there was The Devil’s Rejects. Now, from writer-director Rob Zombie, comes the next blood-soaked chapter in the most violent crime saga in movie history — 3 From Hell. After barely surviving a furious shootout with the police, Baby Firefly (Sheri Moon Zombie), Otis Driftwood (Bill Moseley), and Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig) are behind bars. But pure evil cannot be contained, and a firestorm of murder, madness, and mayhem will be released in this terror ride to Hell… and back.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Rob Zombie
- “To Hell and Back: The Making of 3 From Hell” Featurette (4-Part Documentary Available on 4K and Blu-ray Only; Part 1 Available on DVD)
And Soon the Darkness (KL Studios Classics, Blu-ray)
Brand New 4K Master! Two young British nurses bicycling through the desolate French countryside. A mysterious stranger on a lonely stretch of road. The women become separated and soon after, one of them disappears. Now the remaining girl, alone and frightened, begins an increasingly desperate search for answers among the strangely uncooperative locals. Where is her friend? Was there a murder? And as the darkness approaches, is the killer now stalking her? Pamela Franklin (The Legend of Hell House) and Michele Do trice (The Blood on Satan’s Claw) co-star in this unsettling shocker directed by Robert Fust (The Abominable Dr. Phoebes). And Soon the Darkness remains a favorite of thriller fans for its sexual menace, sinister style and one of the most quietly chilling final twists in ’70s British cinema. Original story and screenplay by Brian Clemens (See No Evil) and Terry Nation (The House in Nightmare Park) with top-notch cinematography by Ian Wilson (The Crying Game, Below).
Special Features:
-Audio commentary with Director Robert Fust and Co-Writer/Co-Producer Brian Clemens, moderated by Journalist Jonathan Sothcott
-Audio Commentary by Film Historian Troy Hogarth
-Radio Spot
-Reverse Art
-Theatrical Trailer
Crawl (Paramount Home Entertainment, Blu/Digital/ DVD Combo & DVD)
When a massive hurricane hits her Florida hometown, Haley ignores evacuation orders to search for her missing father. Finding him gravely injured in the crawl space of their family home, the two become trapped by quickly encroaching floodwaters. As time runs out to escape the strengthening storm, Haley and her father discover that the rising water level is the least of their fears. From producer Sam Raimi (Evil Dead) and director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes), Crawl is a nail-biting thriller from start to finish.
Special Features:
- Intro to Alternate Opening
- Alternate Opening
- Deleted and Extended Scenes
- Beneath Crawl
- Category 5 Gators: The VFX of Crawl
- Alligator Attacks
Haunt (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, DVD)
On Halloween, a group of friends encounter an "extreme" haunted house that promises to feed on their darkest fears. The night turns deadly as they come to the horrifying realization that some nightmares are real.
Special Features:
The Haunting of Hill House: Director’s Cut (Paramount Home Entertainment, Blu-ray & DVD)
The Haunting of Hill House is the critically-acclaimed, modern reimagining of Shirley Jackson's legendary novel about five siblings who grew up in the most famous haunted house in America. Now adults, they're reunited by the suicide of their youngest sister, which forces them to finally confront the ghosts of their pasts... some of which lurk in their minds... and some of which may really be lurking in the shadows of the iconic Hill House. For the first time, experience even more thrills with three extended Director’s Cut episodes featuring never-before-seen footage and go deeper inside Hill House with four exclusive commentaries from Creator and Director Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep).
Häxan: The Criterion Collection (Criterion, Blu-ray & DVD)
Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath: Benjamin Christensen’s legendary silent film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the Middle Ages and early modern era suffered from the same ills as psychiatric patients diagnosed with hysteria in the film's own time. Far from a dry dissertation on the topic, the film itself is a witches’ brew of the scary, the gross, and the darkly humorous. Christensen’s mix-and-match approach to genre anticipates gothic horror, documentary re-creation, and the essay film, making for an experience unlike anything else in the history of cinema.
Special Features:
Killer Nun: Special Edition (Arrow Video, Blu-ray)
Aging blonde-bombshell Anita Ekberg (La Dolce Vita, Pick-up Alley) gives a full-bodied performance as a sex-crazed sister with some seriously bad habits in the lurid cult classic Killer Nun.
One of the most notorious nunsploitation films, Killer Nun tells the sordid story of Sister Gertrude, a disturbed woman of the cloth who degenerates into a perverse mire of drug taking, sexual perversion, sadistic torture and murder. Joe Dallesandro (The Climber, Flesh for Frankenstein), Alida Valli (The Possessed, Suspiria) and the ample Paola Morra (Behind Convent Walls) offer spirited performances and able support to Ekberg, in this outrageous tale based on real events.
Boasting an incongruously classy score by legendary composer Alessandro Alessandroni (Women's Camp 119) and stylishly rendered scenes of sex and murder, Killer Nun takes the viewer on a hair-raising journey from the heights of religious ecstasy to the depths of devilish degeneracy. Now Giulio Berruti's sleazy classic is presented in a stunning new 2K restoration with a liturgy of new extras, ready to be preyed upon.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
The Omen Collection (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
Experience the ultimate in horror with The Omen Collection, featuring all four original films as well as the 2006 remake that terrified audiences. Packed with hours of chilling special features this 5-disc set includes 1976's The Omen (New 4K remaster), Damien: Omen II, in which Damien discovers his destiny, The Final Conflict in which he realizes his full power, and Omen IV: The Awakening, in which a demonic force returns in the form of a wicked young girl. The haunting legacy comes full circle with the 2006 version of the original classic.
Scary Movie: Special Edition (1991) (AGFA, Blu/DVD Combo)
Never legitimately distributed until this very moment, SCARY MOVIE is a joyous horror triumph starring Academy Award nominee John Hawkes. On Halloween night, big-time nerd Warren (Hawkes, channeling a mix of Buster Keaton and Crispin Glover) attends a spookhouse in a small Texas town. But is the haunted house as harmless as it seems, or has a psychotic mental patient found a new stomping ground? Shot in Austin, Texas, SCARY MOVIE combines Argento-esque neon, Freddy Krueger dreamscapes, and slapstick inspired by EVIL DEAD 2 to forge a valentine to Halloween, rubber monster masks, and chopped-off limbs. From the songs by Roky Erickson and Butthole Surfers to the surrealistic mood, this is a true discovery for adventurous horror-heads.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
ALSO AVAILABLE THIS WEEK:
10/31 (Scream Team Releasing, DVD)
The 11th Patient (Uncork’d Entertainment, DVD)
Bone-Chilling Horror: 10-Movie Collection (Paramount Home Entertainment, DVD)
Clown of the Dead (Wild Eye Releasing, DVD)
Deadly Reunion (Wild Eye Releasing, DVD)
Deviant Behavior (SGL Entertainment, Blu-ray & DVD)
Devil’s Revenge (Cleopatra, Blu-ray & DVD)
The Fearless Vampire Killers (Warner Archive Collection, Blu-ray)
The Lingering (Well Go USA, Blu-ray & DVD)
The Noonday Witch (RLJE Films, Blu-ray & DVD)
One Night in October (Wild Eye Releasing, DVD)
The Queen of Spades: Special Edition (KL Studio Classics, Blu-ray)
Sudden Terror (KL Studio Classics, 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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