September 18th is definitely a phan-tastic day to be a genre lover, as we’re finally getting individual Blu-ray releases for both Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead and Phantasm IV: Oblivion this week, courtesy of Well Go USA. Scream Factory has given two classic horrors an HD overhaul—Scream for Help and The Evil—that cult film enthusiasts should definitely check out, and there is a pair of Special Edition Blu-rays arriving on Tuesday from Arrow Video to boot: Horrors of Malformed Men and The Pyjama Girl Case.
Other notable Blu-ray and DVD releases for September 18th include Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, The ToyBox, The X-Files: Season 11, Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum, Impulse, and 666: Seance Hour.
The Evil (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
A psychologist (Richard Crenna) and his wife (Joanna Pettet) buy a dilapidated historical mansion with a dark past in this terrifying chiller. Hoping to restore the estate and turn it into a drug rehabilitation clinic, he accepts the help of some of his students and current patients. But when a secret door in the basement of the house is opened, the malevolent presence within is unleashed, trapping everyone inside. One by one, they are picked off by the unspeakable terror that has awoken ... and the doctor learns that even though his name is on the deed, the house belongs soul-ly to The Evil. Victor Buono, Andrew Prine, and Cassie Yates also star.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- NEW 2K Scan Of The Only Surviving Archival 35mm Print
- Audio Commentary With Director Gus Trikonis, Writer Donald G. Thompson, And Director Of Photography Mario Di Leo, Moderated By Walter Olsen
- Theatrical Trailer
- TV Spot
Horrors of Malformed Men: Special Edition (Arrow Video, Blu-ray)
Cult director Teruo Ishii (Shogun’s Joy of Torture, Blind Woman’s Curse) presents a nightmarish, hallucinogenic tale drawn from the fevered imagination of Japan’s celebrated pioneer ofero-guro (erotic grotesque) literature, Edogawa Rampo.
Medical student Hirosuke Hitomi slips out of the asylum in which he has been wrongfully confined and stealthily assumes the identity of a recently deceased nobleman with whom he bears an uncanny resemblance. Hirosuke eases his way into the nobleman’s household and his dead double’s marital bed. But as long-repressed memories begin to bubble to the surface, he soon finds himself drawn to a remote isle where he is confronted by a mad scientist and his malformed men, and discovers the key that will unlock some long-suppressed mysteries of his own.
A dark labyrinth of the monstrous and perverse that fuses mystery and horror while incorporating motifs from a myriad of Rampo's tales, Horrors of Malformed Men boasts astonishing carnivalesque art design and haunting performances. Withdrawn from cinemas by its own studio after its original scandalous release nearly fifty years ago, the film is among the very best screen interpretations of the author’s macabre brand of horror-fantasy fiction, and a unique oddity of Japanese cult cinema.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (Universal Studios Home Entertainment, 4K Ultra HD/Blu Combo, 3D Blu/Blu Combo, Blu/DVD Combo & DVD/Digital)
It's been three years since theme park and luxury resort, Jurassic World was destroyed by dinosaurs out of containment. Isla Nublar now sits abandoned by humans while the surviving dinosaurs fend for themselves in the jungles. When the island's dormant volcano begins roaring to life, Owen (Chris Pratt) and Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) mount a campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (Well Go USA, Blu-ray)
After being tricked by the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) once more, Reggie (Reggie Bannister) and an unconscious Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) are left alone by their attacker who is content with the head of their now deceased friend Liz (Paula Irvine) for now. Mike doesn’t awake from his coma until two years later after his brother Jody (Bill Thornbury), whom had died in a car accident, appears to him in a dream. Mike, Reggie, and Jody, who is now just a flying, burnt sphere, team back up to fight the Tall Man again, but before they can, he appears and pulls Mike into another dimension. Now it’s up to Reggie and Jody to find Mike before that infamous mortician is able to transform him, only this time, he has way more spheres. Thousands of them.
BONUS FEATURES:
- Phantasm III: Behind the Scenes
- Deleted Scene
- Audio Commentary with Stars A. Michael Baldwin and Angus Scrimm
- Trailer
Phantasm IV: Oblivion (Well Go USA, Blu-ray)
Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) has once again escaped from the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) who had begun to transform him. Leaving Reggie (Reggie Bannister) and his spherical brother, Jody (Bill Thornbury), as he travels through various dimensions and time in order to discover more about his nemesis and find out what really happened the night his brother died.
BONUS FEATURES:
- Phantasm IV: Behind the Scenes
- Audio Commentary with Director Don Coscarelli and Actors Reggie Bannister and Angus Scrimm
- Trailer
The Pyjama Girl Case: Special Edition (Arrow Video, Blu-ray)
Throughout the late 1960s and into the 70s, the Italian giallo movement transported viewers to the far corners of the globe, from swinging San Francisco to the Soviet-occupied Prague. Only one, however, brought the genre’s unique brand of bloody mayhem as far as Australia: director Flavio Mogherini (Delitto Passionale)’s tragic and poetic The Pyjama Girl Case.
The body of a young woman is found on the beach, shot in the head, burned to hide her identity and dressed in distinctive yellow pyjamas. With the Sydney police stumped, former Inspector Timpson (Ray Milland, Dial M for Murder) comes out of retirement to crack the case. Treading where the real detectives can’t, Timpson doggedly pieces together the sad story of Dutch immigrant Glenda Blythe (Dalila Di Lazzaro, Phenomena) and the unhappy chain of events which led to her grisly demise.
Inspired by the real-life case which baffled the Australian police and continues to spark controversy and unanswered questions to this day, The Pyjama Girl Case is a uniquely haunting latter-day giallo from the tail end of the genre’s boom period, co-starring Michele Placido (director of Romanzo Criminale) and Howard Ross (The New York Ripper), and featuring a memorably melancholic score by veteran composer Riz Ortolani (Don’t Torture a Duckling).
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
Scream For Help (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
Terror invades an upper-class New York community as 17-year old Christie Cromwell cleverly uncovers her stepfather’s horrifying plot to murder her wealthy mother. She’s on to him, yet no one will believe her because she’s just a kid: smart, imaginative, maybe she’s just taken a crazy idea to the limit. Suspense builds when a series of shocking events confirms her worst fears. Alone, afraid and helpless, terrified Christie and her mother are held prisoner in their own home at the mercy of ruthless killers.
BONUS FEATURES:
- NEW 2K Scan From The Original Film Elements
- NEW Stepfather Of The Year – An Interview With Actor David Allen Brooks
- NEW Cruel Intentions – An Interview With Writer Tom Holland
- NEW Audio Commentary Featuring Justin Karswell (Hysteria Lives!, The Slasher Movie Book) And Amanda Reyes (Are You In The House Alone? A TV Movie Compendium)
- Theatrical Trailer
ALSO AVAILABLE THIS WEEK:
666: Seance Hour (Bayview Entertainment, DVD)
Impulse (Kino Lorber Studio Classics, Blu-ray)
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (Well Go USA, Blu-ray & DVD)
The ToyBox (Skyline Entertainment, Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD)
The X-Files: Season 11 (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 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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