Digital Fury: DVD Essentials for January

A Planet Fury-approved selection of notable genre DVD releases for the month of January.

Lightning Bug (2004) Image Entertainment Blu-ray and DVD Available Now

Effects guru Robert Hall’s semi-autobiographical film about a small town teen (Reaper's Bret Harrison) who has aspirations to become a special effects artist. An opportunity to manage the town’s local haunted house is thwarted by his alcoholic stepfather and the staunchly religious views of the surrounding population. The solid supporting cast includes That 70’s Show’s Laura Prepon, Hellraiser’s Ashely Lawrence and Kevin Gage. Written and directed by Hall, it’s an affectionate coming-of-age drama that works in spite of an uneven narrative that falls apart in the final half hour. Hopefully this new extended cut will remedy the scripting problems of the original release.

Special Features include:

* Never-before-released extended cut of the film.
* Making-of Featurette
* Audio commentaries with the writer/director and cast.
* Deleted Scenes

The Possession (2012) Lionsgate Blu-ray and DVD Available Now

A young girl (Natasha Calis) brings home an antique box that she finds at a yard sale. Little does she know that it’s a dybbuk box, a cabinet that contains an ancient demon that intends to possess her soul. (In Jewish folklore a dybbuk is an evil spirit.) This well-reviewed post-Exorcist endeavor, from Ole Bornedal (the director of Nightwatch), offers up some stylish PG-13 chills.

Sleeper (1973) MGM Blu-ray and DVD Available Now

Woody Allen is Miles, a health food store owner who is cryogenically frozen and brought back to life 200 years later by a group of anti-government radicals. One of Woody Allen’s “earlier, funny” films from his 70’s heyday filled with memorable dialogue and zany slapstick sequences. It was Diane Keaton’s second collaboration with Allen, after the previous years’ Play It Again, Sam. No special features, but it’s the first time David M. Walsh’s inspired cinematography has been presented in high definition. A must for vintage Allen fans.

Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) Criterion Collection Blu-ray and DVD Available Now

Monte Hellman’s existential road movie stars music legends James Taylor and Dennis Wilson as two no-name car enthusiasts driving through the US in a 1955 Chevy. While searching for other drivers to engage in illegal racing, they meet up with a woman (Laurie Bird) and challenge an older driver (Warren Oates) on a race to D.C. The film was buried by Universal upon its original release in 1971, but slowly developed a cult reputation with periodic revival house screenings. Hellman would go on to direct China 9, Liberty, 37 and, inexplicably, Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: You Better Watch Out.

Special Features include:

* Restored high-definition digital transfer (supervised by director Monte Hellman). * Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, supervised by Hellman and presented in DTS-HD Master Audio.
* Two audio commentaries: one by Hellman and filmmaker Allison Anders and one by screenwriter Rudolph Wurlitzer and author David N. Meyer.
* Interviews with Hellman, actor James Taylor, musician Kris Kristofferson, producer Michael Laughlin, and production manager Walter Coblenz.
* Screen test outtakes
* Performance and Image, a look at the restoration of a ’55 Chevy used in the movie and the film’s locations today.
* Color Me Gone, photos and publicity from Two-Lane Blacktop
* Trailer
* A booklet featuring an essay by critic Kent Jones and more

Deadly Blessing (1981) Scream Factory Blu-ray DVD Available January 22

This eccentric little Wes Craven thriller was released between his drive-in classic The Hills Have Eyes and his cable perennial Swamp Thing. He has described it as a horror version of Charlie’s Angels, which does indeed conjure up the word “deadly” and several other negative descriptors. Sort of a supernatural twist on the slasher genre, Deadly Blessing is filled with some memorable creepy set pieces, but never amounts to much. Battlestar Galactica’s Maren Jensen seeks out the company of two old friends after her husband, a farmer and former member of an Amish-like religious sect, dies under suspicious circumstances. Sharon Stone (well before Basic Instinct) and Susan Buckner (Patty Simcox in Grease) play her two gorgeous friends who gather to console her (and attempt to keep from dying in various horrible and contrived ways). Ernest Borgnine (in full Devil's Rain hamminess) and the always unsettling Michael Berryman play members of the vaguely portrayed Hitite community. Once again, Scream Factory has chosen an obscure cult favorite and created a DVD release packed with special features that include:

* All-new audio commentary with Wes Craven
* Say Your Prayers! An all-new interview with actor Michael Berryman.
* Secrets Revealed An all-new interview with actress Susan Buckner.
* Rise of the Incubus An all-new interview with creature designer John Naulin.
* So It Was Written A look at the film’s screenplay with writers Glenn Benest and Matthew Barr.
* Original Theatrical Trailer, TV & Radio Spots

Sci-Fi Trash-O-Rama Bayview Entertainment/Widowmaker DVD Available January 22

This is a re-release of an out-of-print triple-feature that was evidently successful enough to warrant a second pressing. It’s basically one obscure theatrical film (UFO: Target Earth), one TV movie (Creature of Destruction) and a vintage theatrical short (Flying Saucer Mystery). Creature is one of many AIP films Larry Buchanan re-made for late night television in the 60’s. It’s a slavish remake of She Creature, made with an even smaller budget and more inexperienced cast. It's amazing. Flying Saucer Mystery is probably one of the first documentaries to explore the UFO phenomenon. Made in the early 50’s, it’s composed of mostly stock footage and little solid information. The main draw here is the bizarre, out-of-print Michael A. DeGaetano film UFO: Target Earth. Released in 1974 to capitalize on the UFO craze of the 70’s, it’s a film harshly criticized for its sluggish pace, poor acting and bargain basement special effects. But the script, also written by DeGaetano, features some surprisingly sophisticated concepts for the time and has one of the catchiest theme songs ever written for a b-movie. Fans of micro-budget regional filmmaking will want to check this out.

Ticks (1993) Olive Films Blu-ray and DVD Available January 22

This 90’s DTV film is great fun. Directed with a nice sense of urgency by Tony Randel (Hellbound: Hellraiser 2), it’s got a game cast and some very memorable special effects by Doug Beswick. 90’s “scream queen” Ami Dolenz, a young Seth Green, Bosom Buddies’ Peter Scolari and the always unique Clint Howard try not to get infested by giant ticks. And yes, it’s just as disgusting and wonderful as it sounds. Would make an ideal double-feature with the equally squishy Slugs (’88).

Trancers (1985) Full Moon Pictures DVD Available January 22

One of the few Charles Band films to actually warrant a second viewing, Trancers benefits greatly from its better-than-average cast and a literate (for Empire Pictures) script from Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo. In this Terminator-inspired b-movie, a futuristic bounty hunter named Jack Deth (the great Tim Thomerson) is in pursuit of a criminal who can hypnotize people into zombified beings known as Trancers. The memorable cast includes Michael Stefani, the awesome Telma Hopkins and a pre-fame Helen Hunt.

Midnight Movies Vol. 10: Killer Critters Double Feature Blue Underground DVD Available January 29

Though thematically similar, these two killer animal films from the 80’s are completely different in tone and style. Rats: Night of Terror is an Italian b-movie directed by Bruno Mattei, whose crackpot filmography also includes the beloved fever dream Hell of the Living Dead. A killer rat movie and a post-apocalyptic biker movie, Rats is filled with terrible everything and, while not as much fun as Hell, it’s a unique experience in "What the hell?" exploitation. Piers Haggard’s Venom, the "classier" of the two titles features a stellar (mostly British) cast and a rather elaborate script for the subject matter. A plot to kidnap a young boy gets complicated when a mix-up at the pet store finds him bringing home a deadly black mamba snake. (I hate it when that happens.) Oliver Reed, Sterling Hayden, Susan George and Klaus Kinski (in full crazy mode) attempt to survive the snake shenanigans. A director commentary ported over from a previous release might explain why director Tobe Hooper was replaced before production started.

White Zombie (1932) Kino Classics Blu-ray and DVD Available January 29

A restored version of the Bela Lugosi thriller that was released a year after his big breakthrough: Dracula. Victor Halperin’s film, about a young couple caught up in a voodoo plot to tear them apart, is a dreamy, meditative piece that is much better than its public domain past would suggest. Kino presents two versions of the complete film here, one that is digitally-enhanced and one that is truer to the original film elements.

Also available: An 80 minute movie shorter than saying the actual title and yet twice as long as it probably needs to be: 30 Nights of Paranormal Activity with the Devil Inside the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

The awesome theme song (with psychedelic opening credit sequence) to UFO: Target Earth:

Original trailer for Deadly Blessing: