Well, Halloween season is undoubtedly underway, as we have nearly 30 different horror and sci-fi home entertainment releases headed our way this Tuesday. Just in time for all your seasonal viewing needs, Scream Factory is releasing the first five Halloween films in 4K, and if you’re looking to get caught up on some recent genre fare, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, Fried Barry and the limited series of The Stand (2020) will be coming home tomorrow as well. The first two Phantasm films are getting a new double feature Blu-ray, we also have a new 4K collection of Universal Monsters films being released on Tuesday, and if somehow you’ve never had a chance to check out Trick or Treats, Code Red’s new Blu for the film should help you out there.
Other releases for October 5th include Onibaba: The Criterion Collection, The Victim, The Screaming Woman, Night of the Animated Dead, Castle Rock: The Complete Series, The Collingswood Story, The Amityville Moon and Scream, Pretty Peggy.
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Blu/Digital & DVD)
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions is the sequel to the box-office hit psychological thriller that terrified audiences around the world. In this installment, six people unwittingly find themselves locked in another series of escape rooms, slowly uncovering what they have in common to survive…and discovering they’ve all played the game before.
Fried Barry (RLJE Films, Blu-ray & DVD)
In FRIED BARRY, Barry is a drug-addled degenerate who, after yet another bender, gets abducted by aliens. Barry takes a backseat as his alien visitor assumes control of his body and takes it for a joyride through Cape Town. What follows is an onslaught of drugs, sex and violence as Barry’s alien tourist enters the weird and wonderful world of humankind.
Halloween (1978) 4K (Scream Factory, 4K Ultra HD/Blu)
On a black and unholy Halloween night years ago, little Michael Myers brutally slaughtered his sister in cold blood. For the last fifteen years, the people of Haddonfield have rested easily, knowing that Michael was safely locked away in a mental hospital ... until tonight. Michael has escaped and he will soon return to the same quiet neighborhood to relive his grisly murder again. For this is a night of evil. Tonight is Halloween.
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DISC TWO (Blu-ray):
DISC THREE (Blu-ray):
Halloween II (1981) 4K (Scream Factory, 4K Ultra HD/Blu/DVD)
Picking up exactly where the first film left off, Halloween II follows the same ill-fated characters as they encounter the knife-wielding maniac they left for dead in the first film. The inhuman Michael Myers is still very much alive and out for more revenge as he stalks the deserted halls of the Haddonfield hospital. As he gets closer to his main target, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) discovers the chilling mystery behind the crazed psychopath's actions. Written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, Halloween II is a spine-tingling dark ride into the scariest night of the year.
DISC ONE (4K UHD):
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Halloween III: Season of the Witch 4K (Scream Factory, 4K Ultra HD/Blu)
A terrified toy salesman is mysteriously attacked. At the hospital, he babbles and clutches the year's most popular Halloween costume, an eerie pumpkin mask. Suddenly, Doctor Daniel Challis (Tom Atkins, The Fog, Night Of The Creeps) finds himself thrust into a terrifying Halloween nightmare. Working with the salesman's daughter, Ellie, Daniel traces the mask to the Silver Shamrock Novelties company and its founder, Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy, RoboCop).
Ellie and Daniel uncover Cochran's shocking Halloween plan and must stop him before trick-or-treaters across the country never come home in this terrifying thriller from writer/director Tommy Lee Wallace (Stephen King's IT).
DISC ONE (4K UHD):
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Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers 4K (Scream Factory, 4K Ultra HD/Blu)
He butchered 16 people trying to get to his sister. He was shot and incinerated, but still the entity that Dr. Sam Loomis (the legendary Donald Pleasence) calls "Evil on two legs" would not die. Tonight, Michael Myers has come home again ... to kill! This time, Michael returns to Haddonfield for Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris, 2009's Halloween II, The Last Boy Scout) – the orphaned daughter of Laurie Strode – and her babysitter Rachel (Ellie Cornell, Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers, House Of The Dead). Can Loomis stop Michael before the unholy slaughter reaches his innocent young niece?
Michael Pataki, Sasha Jenson and Kathleen Kinmont co-star in this smash sequel that marked the long-awaited return to the original storyline and remains infamous for its startling twist ending and graphic violence.
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Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers 4K (Scream Factory, 4K Ultra HD/Blu)
Because Hell would not have him, Michael Myers survived the mine explosion thought to have killed him. One year later, his traumatized young niece Jamie (Danielle Harris, Rob Zombie's Halloween) is horrified to discover she has a telepathic bond with her evil uncle ... and that Uncle Michael is on his way back to Haddonfield. But Dr. Loomis (the legendary Donald Pleasence) has a new plan to destroy The Boogey Man in his childhood home using Jamie as bait. Tonight, the carnage begins again: Michael Myers is back with a vengeance! Ellie Cornell and Beau Starr return for this hit sequel that features grisly gore by K.N.B. EFX Group (The Walking Dead, Army Of Darkness).
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Onibaba: The Criterion Collection (Criterion, Blu-ray)
Deep in the windswept marshes of war-torn medieval Japan, an impoverished older woman and her daughter-in-law murder lost samurai and sell their belongings for the most meager of sustenance. When a bedraggled neighbor returns from battle, lust, jealousy, and rage threaten to destroy the trio’s tenuous existence, before an ominous, ill-gotten demon mask seals their horrifying fate. Driven by primal emotions, dark eroticism, a frenzied score by Hikaru Hayashi, and stunning images both lyrical and macabre, the chilling folktale Onibaba by Kaneto Shindo conjures a nightmarish vision of humankind’s deepest desires and impulses.
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
Phantasm I & II (Well Go USA, Blu-ray)
This new limited special edition collection includes PHANTASM: REMASTERED and PHANTASM II: DIRECTOR'S CUT, and a newly commissioned original collectible poster. Phantasm I - Since its release in 1979, director Don Coscarelli's epic tale of the Tall Man, his deadly Sentinel Spheres, and a group of small town friends who band together to stop his evil dimension-hopping schemes, has captivated and terrified horror and sci-fi fans around the world. Now, see it all in stunning HD for the first time, thanks to a meticulous restoration from filmmaker J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions. Phantasm II - Features exploding special effects, unparalleled thrills, horror and suspense, and climaxes with a blood-curdling conclusion that you have to see to believe. Released after seven years in a mental hospital, Mike convinces his old pal Reggie to join forces with him to hunt down and destroy the Tall Man once and for all. Mike's visions lead the two to a quiet little town where a horde of flying killer balls aim to slice and dice their gruesome way through everyone.
The Stand (2020) (Paramount Home Entertainment, Blu-ray & DVD)
When a killer plague wipes out 99% of the world’s population, the embattled survivors struggle to make their way in a post-apocalyptic reality. This 2020 adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand frames the eternal battle between good and evil, as embodied by the peaceful prophet Mother Abagail (Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg) and the menacing presence Randall Flagg (Emmy Award winner Alexander Skarsgård), and closes with a new coda written by Stephen King himself. The all-star cast also includes James Marsden and Academy Award nominee Greg Kinnear, with guest stars Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons and Heather Graham. Delve deeper into this epic reimagining of King’s iconic novel with exclusive special features.
Special Features:
Trick or Treats (Code Red, Blu-ray)
Five years after his wife, Joan (Carrie Snodgress, THE FURY), had him wrongfully and deliberately committed to a mental institution so she could live with her boyfriend (David Carradine, KILL BILL, TV’s KUNG FU), Malcolm (Peter Jason, 48 HRS) escapes on Halloween night and arrives back at his old house to murder her. Except Joan is not home - she’s out with her boyfriend while babysitter Linda (Jacqueline Giroux, THIS IS A HIJACK) is looking after Malcolm’s 10-year-old son Christopher (Chris Graver), an equally psychotic and demented practical joker until, under cover of darkness, Malcolm shows up and begins a real terror game of attrition with Linda. Steve Railsback (THE STUNT MAN, LIFEFORCE), Paul Bartel (EATING RAOUL), Jillian Kesner (RAW FORCE), John Blyth Barrymore, Football greats Dan Pastorini and Tim Rossovich co-star. Written, produced and directed by cult filmmaker Gary Graver. The great Orson Welles (CITIZEN KANE) was the magical advisor for this cult classic.
Special Features:
Universal Classic Monsters: Icons of Horror Collection (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, 4K Ultra HD/Blu/Digital)
From the era of silent movies through present day, Universal Pictures has been regarded as the home of the monsters. Universal Classic Monsters Icons of Horror Collection showcases four of the most iconic monsters in motion picture history including Dracula, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man and The Wolf Man. Starring Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr. and Claude Rains in the roles that they made famous, these original films set the standard for a new horror genre with revolutionary makeup, mood-altering cinematography and groundbreaking special effects.
CLASSIC MONSTER FILMS INCLUDED:
HOURS OF BONUS CONTENT, INCLUDING:
ALSO AVAILABLE THIS WEEK:
The Amityville Moon (Lionsgate, DVD)
The Awakening (Cohen Media Group, Blu-ray)
Castle Rock: The Complete Series (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Blu-ray & DVD)
The Collingswood Story (Cauldron Films, Blu-ray)
Dinosaur Hotel (ITN Distribution, DVD)
I Spit on Your Grave (1978) (Ronin Flix, Blu-ray)
I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu (Ronin Flix, Blu-ray)
The Last Inn (4Digital Media, DVD)
Night of the Animated Dead (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Blu/Digital & DVD)
The Relic (Paramount Home Entertainment, Blu-ray)
Scream, Pretty Peggy (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray)
The Screaming Woman (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray)
The Victim (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray)
What Lies Beneath (Paramount Home Entertainment, Blu-ray)
Zillafoot (SRS Cinema, 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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