It’s new release Monday and a whole host of new titles hit the home entertainment markets – specifically the physical formats (Blu-ray and DVD) and we have highlighted the strongest of those new titles worth seeking out.
Halloween Kills
First up is the second film in the current series of Halloween movies from director David Gordon Green. This one received mixed reviews when it was released back in October though we rather liked it when we saw it for the first time in Venice where it received its world premiere a month previous.
Halloween Kills hits DVD, Blu-ray, digital and 4K (including a nice Steelbook) from today.
Bonus materials are as follows [Blu-ray]:
- Gag Reel / Deleted & Extended Scenes / Haddonfield’s Open Wounds
- The Kill Team
- Strode Family Values
- 1978 Transformations
- The Power of Fear
- Kill Count
- Feature Commentary with Director/Co-writer David Gordon Green and Stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Judy Greer
Our review: “[The film is] full of the jump-scares and silly character decisions (use your gun, not an axe!) that have become emblematic of this franchise. And you can see where it’s going from a mile away. One could even argue that the franchise has become self-aware now with Green leaning into the inane decisions, cartoonish kills, and Myers’ immortality. The occasional one-liner and trope still feels a little misplaced but Kills is having fun with the concept and it makes for entertaining, albeit paper-thin, viewing.
Cobra Kai – Season III
With season four now available on Netflix, along with the previous seasons, comes the physical release for those who don’t subscribe. Very well-received upon its original airing, Cobra Kai season III continues the story of Johnny Lawrence and his reopening the Cobra Kai dojo which causes his rivalry with Daniel LaRusso to be reignited.
Bonus features include a blooper reel and deleted scenes.
Seance
From the folks who brought us You’re Next and Orphan comes this Shudder exclusive which now arrives on the physical formats. We reviewed this on digital back last year and quite liked it.
We have an official synopsis.
Camille Meadows is the new girl at the prestigious Edelvine Academy for Girls. Soon after her arrival, six girls invite her to join them in a late-night ritual, calling forth the spirit of a dead former student who reportedly haunts their halls. But before morning, one of the girls is dead, leaving the others wondering what they may have awakened.
In our original review, we said: “Although not as inventive or imaginative as [director] Simon Barrett’s written work, Seance still has enough components to make for a steady debut feature.” The full review is here.
The bonus material is as follows:
- Director Commentary
- Behind The Scenes
- Outtakes
- Deleted Scenes
- Decapitation Pre-Viz
- Behind The Scenes Photo Gallery
Buster Keaton: The Complete Short Films 1917-1923
As part of their Masters Of Cinema collection Eureka! present the complete short film works of cinema pioneer Buster Keaton. Clocking in at over 12 hours worth of content, the box-set covers from 1917-1923 featuring; The Butcher Boy (1917), The Rough House (1917), His Wedding Night (1917), Oh, Doctor! (1917), Coney Island (1917), Out West (1918), The Bell Boy (1918), Moonshine (1918), Good Night Nurse (1918), The Cook (1918), Backstage (1919), The Hayseed (1919), The Garage (1919), The “High Sign”* (finished 1920, released 1921), One Week* (1920), Convict 13* (1920), The Scarecrow (1920), Neighbors (1920), The Haunted House (1921), Hard Luck (1921), The Goat (1921), The Playhouse* (1921), The Boat* (1921), The Paleface (1922), Cops* (1922), My Wife’s Relations (1922), The Blacksmith (1922), The Frozen North (1922), Daydreams (1922), The Electric House (1922), The Balloonatic (1923), The Love Nest (1923).
The official wording is as follows:
Capturing Keaton’s first steps in front of a camera, this box set charts his early association with ex-Keystone Kop Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle through to starring in, headlining, and directing his own box office smash hits. Using Chaplin’s old Hollywood studios in 1920, Keaton’s sophisticated technical inventiveness coupled with his haunted-yet-handsome ‘Stone Face’ persona, created a succession of the most timeless, classic comedy shorts ever realised. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present these films on Blu-ray from meticulous restorations.
This one retails for just £20 on Blu-ray and is an absolute must for cinema enthusiasts and completists.
Nightmare Alley (1947)
Based on the 1946 novel of the same name by William Lindsay, this 1947 movie from director Edmund Goulding from a screenplay by Jules Furthman.stars Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray, and Helen Walker. Not to be confused with the 2022 version from Guillermo del Toro, though obviously released to coincide with the new adaptation, Goulding’s film is presented on Blu-ray and DVD through Signal One Entertainment.
The story is set in the gritty yet surreal world of a travelling carnival, whose eccentric inhabitants serve up bizarre illusions to a grateful and gullible public.
Tyrone Power’s ruthless schemer, Stanton Carlisle, was his favorite of all his roles, and no wonder: it stretched him like nothing before or since as Carlisle rises from raffish carnival barker to national mind-reading sensation in partnership with his beautiful wife Molly (Coleen Gray), before an equally precipitous fall at the hands of a duplicitous psychologist (Helen Walker) and his own all too human frailties. Director Edmund Goulding (DARK VICTORY) conjures a spellbinding atmosphere out of some of the weirdest material ever to be tackled by a major studio.
Bonus features are as follows:
- High-Definition Transfer
- UK Blu-ray™ premiere
- Audio Commentary with writer and Anthologist Johnny Mains and Film Expert Michael Brooke
- Audio commentary from 2005 featuring film historians James Ursini and Alain Silver
- Trailer
- Original Mono Audio
- Still Gallery
- Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
