A Planet Fury-approved selection of notable genre releases for April.
Night Gallery: Season 3 DVD Available Now
The third and final season (1972–73) of Rod Serling’s underrated series finally comes to DVD. Season 3 (with episodes downsized to half an hour) is generally considered inferior to the first two years, but it still contains several classic episodes. Best of all, Jim Benson and Scott Skelton, co-authors of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery: An After-Hours Tour, helped put together a “lost” episode featuring four segments that were heavily altered for syndication. Guest stars this season include Mickey Rooney, Vincent Price, Burgess Meredith and gorgeous Joanna Pettet (The Evil).
Thou Shalt Not Kill… Except (1985) Blu-ray/DVD combo Available Now
One of the last great exploitation films of the ‘80s to receive wide theatrical distribution, this gonzo action/horror hybrid from director Josh Becker features many names from the Evil Dead team, both in front and behind the camera. A Vietnam vet (Brian Schulz) returns home to find his ex-girlfriend has been kidnapped by a Manson-like cult headed by a deranged leader played by filmmaker Sam Raimi. Synapse Films presents an all-new 2K high-definition transfer from the original negative.
The release features:
- All-New High-Definition 2K Digital Restoration from the Original Negative
- The Original Super 8mm Short film, Stryker’s War Short Film, starring Bruce Campbell
- The Featurette Made in Michigan: The Making of Thou Shalt Not Kill… Except
- Two Audio Commentaries Featuring Director Josh Becker, Bruce Campbell and Star Brian Schulz
- All-New Video Interview with Bruce Campbell
- Deleted Scene with Optional Director’s Commentary
- Alternate Title Sequence
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Reversible Cover Artwork
Roger Corman’s Cult Classics: The Nurses Collection (1971, 1972, 1973, 1974) DVD April 17
Four of the classic Nurse films from the series that helped build the New World Pictures empire. Featuring widescreen prints of Candy Stripe Nurses, Private Duty Nurses, Night Call Nurses and Young Nurses. Also includes the featurette Anatomy of a Nurse Film with Nurse series directors Jonathan Kaplan and Allan Holleb. Read the Planet Fury review HERE.
The Asphyx: Remastered Edition (1973) Blu-ray and DVD April 17
A newly remastered edition of British cinematographer Peter Newbrook’s first and only film. Robert Stephens plays a brilliant scientist who, after losing his wife and son, becomes obsessed with a ghost-like presence he believes to be the Asphyx (the spirit of the dead).
11-11-11 (2011) Blu-ray and DVD April 24
Director Darren Lynn Bousman’s (Saw 2, 3, & 4) thriller about an author (Timothy Gibbs) thrown into emotional turmoil after the sudden death of his wife and child. While on a trip to Barcelona to visit his dying father, he discovers that his life has been marked by tragic events coinciding with the date 11-11-11. The well-received (though barely released) film also stars Michael Landes (Final Destination 2) and Denis Rafter with cinematography by Bousman regular Joseph White (Repo: the Genetic Opera and Mother’s Day).
Shogun Assassin 5-Film Collection Blu-ray April 24
Five films from the popular Lone Wolf and Cub series (1972–74), based on the Japanese manga comics first published in 1970. Stateside, the first two films were edited together and released as the grindhouse classic Shogun Assassin. Extras have yet to be released.
The Red House (1947) DVD Blu-ray combo April 24
A high-definition restoration of the classic film noir from director Delmer Daves (3:10 to Yuma). Edward G. Robinson and Judith Anderson play aging siblings raising a teenager whose parents were mysteriously murdered. Watch for singer/actress Julie London in one of her first film roles.
The Innkeepers (2011) Blu-ray and DVD April 24
Director Ty West’s follow-up to the fantastic House of the Devil follows two bored hotel clerks investigating the supposed haunting of their Victorian inn. The film stars Sara Paxton (Shark Night) and Pat Healy as the geeky, low-tech ghostbusters and Kelly McGillis as a boozy psychic.
Killer Nun (1979) Blu-ray April 24
Fun Italian sleaze flick starring former sex symbol Anita Ekberg (La Dolce Vita) as an unstable nun working at an asylum where several patients begin to die mysteriously. The film also stars Joe Dallesandro (Flesh for Frankenstein), Alida Valli (Suspiria) and Paola Morra (Behind Convent Walls). One of the more ambitious “nunsploitation” films, directed by Giulio Berruti (assistant director of the cult favorite Baba Yaga).
The Wicker Tree (2010) Blu-ray and DVD April 24
The Wicker Tree is the eagerly anticipated follow-up to the 1973 British cult classic The Wicker Man. Writer/director Robin Moore returns to the director’s chair with an adaptation of his original novel Cowboys for Christ. His new story follows two Texas missionaries (Brittania Nicol and Henry Garrett) who travel to Scotland to spread the word of God. They end up in the small town of Treesock, where the townspeople have some fairly strong beliefs of their own. The Wicker Man 's Christopher Lee returns (in a different role) along with Graham McTavish (Rambo), Jacqueline Leonard and the unfortunately named Honeysuckle Weeks.
Also out: Halloween: Resurrection (2002) Blu-ray April 17
The sequel nobody asked for deservedly gets the Echo Bridge treatment.
LONE WOLF AND CUB on blu-ray?