Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Warner Home Video's The Exorcist: The Complete Anthology Heads To Blu-ray On Sept. 23


DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
Warner Home Video has targeted Sept. 23 as the Blu-ray release date for a six-disc, five-film collection of The Exorcist: The Complete Anthology.

Included in the collection are two versions of director William Friedkin’s 1973 film that started it all.    Collectors and genre fans can enjoy the original theatrical cut or the 2000 “Director’s Cut,” which features roughly ten minutes worth of footage culled from the 1973 version.

The 1977 follow-up (which by any standards was a complete disaster) Exorcist II: The Heretic and writer/director William Peter Blatty 1990 resurrection of the series, The Exorcist III, starring George C. Scott as a veteran DC detective trying to solve a series of murders only to discover much, much more!

And rounding out the collection are the two versions (a real-world film school lesson to be sure) of the fourth film in the series, which is actually a prequel to the original The Exorcist.   Exorcist: The Beginning was directed by Renny Harlin and released during the summer of 2004 … an earlier version by director Paul Schrader was put on hiatus after the producers felt that it was too cerebral and Harlin was brought in to reshoot the film.    

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph TribbeyAfter Exorcist: The Beginning was released, funding was provided to Schrader to finish his vision of the same story, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist.  It got a brief look-see theatrical break (110 screen) in May of 2005.

No word just yet on bonus features (vintage or otherwise) included in this collection.
Also added to the release calendar this week for delivery on Sept. 23 were DVD and Blu-ray editions of director Turner Clay’s Disaster L.A.: The Last Zombie Apocalypse Begins Here.   

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
This is a tasty pick-up by the studio as this is a very slick indie film (all tech elements solid) that was delivered on a micro budget.   It’s good to see that someone at the studio is paying attention to what is going on in the indie world these days.

The City of Angels is ground zero for a meteor shower (nicely put together), which is bad enough, but it turns out that these meteors contain some sort of parasite/virus that when inhaled turns one into a flesh-craving zombie.   There’s smoke everywhere from the meteor strikes and soon enough Los Angeles is infested with the walking dead. 

Survivors desperately try to exit the city!  Good luck with that … have you seen the traffic on a peaceful day in Los Angeles, much less after a swarm of meteor strikes and an ever-growing zombie plague.  

This little genre-gem is well worth a look-see come Sept. 23.

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph TribbeyOct. 7 is the street date for DVD and Blu-ray editions of both Cartoon Network: Adventure Time - The Complete Fourth Season and director Gil Junger’s seasonal action/comedy, Christmas Bounty, starring Francia Raisa as a former bounty hunter who is trying to leave her past behind … but little luck!

On the TV-on-DVD release front, Oct. 14 marks the arrival of a three-disc helping of Two and a Half Men: The Complete Eleventh Season and Two Broke Girls: The Complete Third Season (also a three-disc SKU).

To download this week's complete edition of the DVD and Blu-ray Release Report:  DVD & Blu-ray Release Report


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