October 20th is yet another stellar week of horror and sci-fi home entertainment releases, all leading up to our favorite holiday: Halloween. One of my favorite films of all time, Ernest Dickerson’s Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight, is finally making its way to HD via a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory. And as if that’s not enough, Scream is also busy with two more great releases this Tuesday as well—Bordello of Blood and The Larry Fessenden Collection.
Kino Lorber is reviving another cult classic on Tuesday too—The Oblong Box—which is based on the Edgar Allan Poe tale and co-stars two cinematic legends, Vincent Price and Christopher Lee. For those of you Back to the Future fans out there (and really, who isn’t?), Universal is giving the series a few special releases in time for the film’s 30th anniversary and, I suspect, to also coincide with the date featured prominently throughout the second film.
Other notable releases for October 20th include The Vatican Tapes, Jurassic World, Z is for Zachariah and I Spit on Your Grave 3.
Tales from the Crypt Presents: Bordello of Blood (Scream Factory, Collector’s Edition Blu-ray)
Wisecracking private eye Rafe Guttman (Dennis Miller, Joe Dirt) investigates some strange happenings at a titillating bordello on the edge of town. It seems owner Madam Lilith (Angie Everhart, Jade) and her luscious cohorts want more than money… they want blood!
Soon Rafe finds himself up to his neck in a den of hungry vampiresses and battling the Reverend Jimmy Current (Chris Sarandon, Fright Night, Child’s Play), a slick televangelist with an unstoppable talisman.
Directed by film producer Gilbert Adler (Thir13en Ghosts, House on Haunted Hill), co-starring Erika Eleniak (Under Siege), Corey Feldman (The Lost Boys, The Goonies), Aubrey Morris (A Clockwork Orange) and Phil Fondacaro (Ghoulies II), and brimming with blood, lust and wicked laughs, this is one brothel you’ll visit again and again!
Special Features Include Audio Commentary with Co-Writer & Producer A.L. Katz, Tainted Blood: The Making of “Tales From The Crypt presents Bordello Of Blood,” Interviews with Actors Corey Feldman, Angie Everhart and Erika Eleniak, Co-Writer & Co-Producer A.L. Katz, Editor & Second Unit Director Stephen Lovejoy, and Special Effects Creator Todd Masters (35 minutes), Video Promo, Still Gallery and Theatrical Trailer.
Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight (Scream Factory, Collector’s Edition Blu-ray)
A mysterious drifter known as Brayker (William Sadler, Iron Man 3) possesses the last of seven ancient keys that hold the power to stop the forces of darkness and protect all humanity from ultimate evil. But the human race is safe only so long as Brayker can evade the demonic Collector (Billy Zane, Titanic) who has gathered the other six keys.
In his obsessive quest for the key, the Collector rallies an army of ghastly cadavers against Brayker and the inhabitants of a run-down hotel. Armed with automatic weapons, sacred blood and sadistic humor, Brayker and the strong-willed Jeryline (Jada Pinkett-Smith, Gotham) must lead the other guests in a gruesome battle against the Collector and his evil horde of ghouls.
Infested with a talented cast, thrilling special effects and the Crypt Keeper’s deadpan delights, Demon Knight is directed by genre vet Ernest Dickerson (The Walking Dead, Dexter, Masters of Horror) and features a strong supporting cast featuring Thomas Haden Church (Spider-Man 3, Sideways), CCH Pounder (Orphan, Avatar), Brenda Bakke (L.A. Confidential), Dick Miller (Gremlins) and Charles Fleischer (Zodiac).
Special Features Include Audio Commentary with Director Ernest Dickerson, Audio Commentary with Special Make-up Effects Creator Todd Masters, Visual Effects Supervisor John Van Vliet, Special Effects Coordinator Thomas Bellissimo, and Demon Performer Walter Phelan, Under Siege: The Making of “Tales From The Crypt presents Demon Knight” Featuring interviews with Director Ernest Dickerson, Co-producer A.L. Katz, Screenwriters Ethan Reiff, Cyrus Voris, and Mark Bishop, Stars Billy Zane, William Sadler, Brenda Bakke, Charles Fleischer, John Schuck and Dick Miller, Editor Stephen Lovejoy, Special Make-Up Effects Creator Todd Masters, Special Make-Up Effects Artists Scott Coulter and Scott Wheeler, and Demon Performer Walter Phelan (40 minutes), Panel Discussion from the American Cinematheque featuring director Ernest Dickerson, actor Dick Miller, and Special Effects maestro Rick Baker, Still Gallery and Theatrical Trailer.
The Oblong Box (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray & DVD)
Newly Remastered in HD! Coffins, blood and live corpses! A gasping, gnawing, heart stopping evil lies buried in The Oblong Box. Do you dare unearth its wrath? Vincent Price (Madhouse, Twice Told Tales) and Christopher Lee (The Crimson Cult, House of the Long Shadows) are at their terrifying best as a plantation owner with a shocking family secret and a wealthy doctor desperate to continue his morbid experiments on human flesh in this Edgar Allan Poe (Tales of Terror) classic tale of the living dead! Price returns to his English manor from an African trip with his mad, mutilated brother and buries his chained up sibling alive. When the body is exhumed, the madman somehow still alive begins a systematic search for vengeance. Co-written, produced and directed by horror great, Gordon Hessler (Cry of the Banshee, Scream and Scream Again) with top-notch cinematography by John Coquillon (Straw Dogs, Cross of Iron).
Special Features include Audio Commentary by Film Historian Steve Haberman, Edgar Allan Poe's Annabel Lee (1969): Narrated by Vincent Price, and Trailers.
ALSO AVAILABLE THIS WEEK:
Back in Time (FilmRise, Blu-ray & DVD)
Back to the Future: 30th Anniversary Collection (Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Blu/Digital HD)
Back to the Future: The Complete Adventures Limited Edition Set (Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Blu/Digital HD)
I Spit on Your Grave 3: Vengeance is Mine (Anchor Bay Entertainment, Blu-ray & DVD)
Jurassic Park Collection: All Four Movies (Universal Studios Home Entertainment, 3D Blu/Blu/DVD & DVD)
Jurassic World (Universal Studios Home Entertainment, 3D Blu/DVD/Digital, Blu/DVD/Digital & DVD/Digital)
The Larry Fessenden Collection (Scream Factory, Blu)
The Vatican Tapes (Lionsgate, Blu/Digital HD & DVD/Digital HD)
Z for Zachariah (Lionsgate, Blu-ray & DVD)