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.
After 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.
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.
Oct. 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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