Vinegar Syndrome Announces Feb. 26 Film Restoration Release Slate

Last week we covered the film restorations from Vinegar Syndrome that will be streeting on on Jan. 29.   In addition to director Richard W. Haines’ slasher classic, Splatter University and director Lee Frost’s adult treasure from 1974, A Climax of Blue Power, Vinegar Syndrome had a pair of vintage direct-to-video releases that have stood the test of time — writer/director Rolfe Kanefsky’s There's Nothing Out There (1991) and writer/director Greydon Clark’s Uninvited (1988).

In keeping with that spirit, Vinegar Syndrome announced it February line-up (all available as Blu-ray/DVD Combo Packs on Feb. 26) of new film restorations this past week and at the top of the list is the double-feature presentation of Brett Piper’s direct-to-video sci-fi gems from the 1980s, Battle for the Lost Planet and its sequel, Mutant War.   Both are 2K restorations from 16mm and 35mm camera negatives.

Let’s just say it right up front, Battle for the Lost Planet (aka: Galaxy Destroyer) is cheese … a low-budget mish-mash, with some questionable acting and a sappy script, but it has some really, really cool stop-motion and in-camera special effects sequences (something that Piper has mastered over the years … check out Queen Crab).  

And those sequences make this a keeper, especially when the Battle for the Lost Planet is teamed with Mutant War, the sequel which continues the quest of Harry Trent (Matt Mitler — Basket Case 2, Cracking Up) to unite the surviving humans, overcome mutant creatures and drive the alien invaders from Earth. 

Bonus features include an introduction by filmmaker Brett Piper to both films and featurette titled “Battle for the Lost Film.”  

Joining this direct-to-video sci-fi double feature on Vinegar Syndrome’s Feb. 26 release calendar is director William Webb’s 1988 serial killer thriller, Party Line, starring Leif Garrett (Seth) and Greta Blackburn (Angelina) as a brother/sister tag team … she seduces and then he kills the men who succumb to her charms.   

Richard Hatch plays “Dan” the detective out to stop them, while Shawn Weatherly is Stacy, an ambitious DA special investigator who is teamed with him … it is pretty obvious from the get-go that Angelina is smarter than them all, so catching her is no easy task.

Party Line is a slick (sick) little thriller — a very limited release by Sony Pictures in October in 1988 — that allows Leif Garrett to be very strange (unhinged sexually) and Greta Blackburn to be both sexy and scary domineering in equal measures.

Bonus features are limited to the featurette titled “Party Line Fever.”

Also on the Feb. 26 release calendar as Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack release (a 4K film restoration from the original 35mm camera negative) is another film from director Greydon Clark (see above), his 1982 horror spoof, Wacko.   

The lawnmower killer, a pervert and his daughter, Norman Bates over for dinner with his mom, the high school prom and Andrew Dice Clay … do you real need any more than that to be talked into putting this rarely-seen gem on your viewing list come Feb. 26!!

Bonus features include commentary from filmmaker Greydon Clark, outtakes and the featurette titled “Die Laughing.”

Rounding out the February line-up from Vinegar Syndrome is adult filmmaker Carter Stevens’ “casting couch” expose, Tinseltown, starring Danielle Raye as innocent country girl Mary Jo Harmon who comes to Hollywood to fulfill her dreams and in turn gets a few lessons in how the entertainment business really works.

This is a 2K film restoration from the original 35mm negative (yes, shot on film) and it includes a newly-prepared commentary option from director Carter Stevens.

Wild Eye Releasing Readies Writer/Director Sam Barrett's Dark Sister For Delivery On DVD This Coming Apr. 23

From Down Under on Apr. 23 comes the domestic DVD debut of writer/director Sam Barrett’s neo-giallo murder thriller, Dark Sister.   Wild Eye Releasing, with sales and distribution expertise provided my MVD Entertainment Group, set the street date this past week.

Cassie (Amanda Woodhams — The Dressmaker, Looking for Grace) is an artist with visions of horrible, terrible things happening.   A vulnerable beauty — lovely red hair with piercing blue eyes — she is undergoing some sort of mumbo jumbo therapy sessions about how her work expresses her deepest thoughts and feelings.

But there’s more to it than that as her nightmares — which inspire her work — are becoming all too real.   When a somewhat sketchy “detective” named Billy Fabrizzi (Vito de Francesco) shows up things take a turn for the worse as he is able to connect the dots for Cassie.   Her visions, her painting and a series of murders are all connected and he has the evidence to prove it.

In giallo-like sequences, she sees the killer in action from his/her POV … she becomes, if not the killer herself (hey, it is a mystery thriller and anything is possible), an amateur sleuth who could be well on her way to becoming the next victim.

If you are a fan of giallo-style whodunits, then this Down Under entry will certainly be one to check out on Apr. 23.

Bonus features for Dark Sister include a commentary option from filmmaker Sam Barrett (No Through Road, Esoterica).

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Selects Mar. 26 For Jennifer Lopez's Second Act And Mar. 12 For Mortal Engines

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and STX Entertainment will be teaming up on Mar. 26 for the home entertainment launch of director Peter Segal’s romantic comedy, Second Act, starring and produced by Jennifer Lopez.

The ARR for this Christmas Holiday theatrical entry is 95 days and box office receipts came in at $37.8 million.  Planned for release are a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack and a stand-alone DVD edition.

Jennifer Lopez plays a long-surfacing Queens’ retail employee who has “street smarts,” but lacks the formal education to escape her dead end job.   She suddenly finds herself re-invented into a savvy consultant (well, with a little help from her godson … and friends) and lands a high profile gig with a Manhattan company run by Anderson Clarke (Treat Williams).   

It becomes a race against the clock.   Can she launch a new product — in competition with Clarke’s daughter, Zoe (Vanessa Hudgens) — before her fraud is exposed.   

Bonus features include four featurettes — “Connecting with Milo Ventimiglia,” “The Empowering Women of Second Act,” “Friendship On and Off Screen” and  “Working with the Ones You Love.” 

They can’t all be hits … the money is spent, the visuals are spectacular, but the audience was a no-show and that means red ink.   Such was the case with director Christian Rivers’ film adaptation of the Philip Reeve's post-apocalyptic novel, Mortal Engines.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment announced this past week that a three-SKU selection of home entertainment packaged media products for Mortal Engines will be available on Mar. 12.   That date yields an ARR of 88 days … the Christmas-season theatrical launched yielded dismal ticket sales of just $15.9 million (trades were reporting a production budget somewhere north of $100 million).

It will be home entertainment to the rescue to salvage what they can with Combo Pack editions for both 4K Ultra HD (with Blu-ray) and Blu-ray (with DVD), plus a stand-alone DVD SKU.

Bonus features include commentary from Christian Rivers and five featurettes — “Welcome to London” (a five-part “behind-the-scenes” presentation), “End of the Ancients,” “Character Series,” “In the Air” and “Film New Zealand.”

For the period ending January 18, 2018 ... New DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD selections added to the DVD & Blu-ray Release Report's database

DVD New Additions:

Breaking Glass Pictures

01/01/19 — Released Scaffolding (Hebrew)

01/15/19 — Released We are Three (Spanish)

01/29/19 — Sets Honeyglue

02/05/19 — Sets Beyond the Night

02/26/19 — Sets Holiday (Danish)

Championship Productions

01/08/18 — Defending the Spread Run Game with the 3-4 Defense, Power Read Variations and RPOs and Trap Coverage in a 3-4 Defense

01/15/18 — Released Bullpen Training for Peak Pitching Performance, Complete Defensive Training for Pitchers, Developing a Championship Pitching Staff, Developing Healthy, Strong Pitching Arms, Pitching Drills for Strength & Balance and Strategies & Grips Every Pitcher Should Know

Criterion Collection

04/09/19 — Sets Night on Earth and Stranger Than Paradise/Permanent Vacation (2 disc set)

04/16/19 — Sets Diamonds of the Night (Czech/German)

04/23/19 — Sets Face in the Crowd

04/30/19 — Sets Jackie Chan: Police Story (Cantonese)/Police Story 2 (Cantonese) (2 disc set) and My Brilliant Career

Eccentric Exhibits (MOD)

01/15/19 — Released Misanthropic Cow

Epic Pictures Group, Inc.

01/15/19 — Released Dry Blood

Get Digital World (MOD)

01/08/19 — Released Discover How to Overcome Your Limitations and Doubts So You Can Achieve Your Greatest Potential!, Make Money Online with Arbitrage, Start Your Own Online Home Business Selling Videos On Amazon Video Direct, Step by Step Social Media Marketing Crash Course, Using Webinars for Business Made Simple, Wordpress Developer Tech Secrets and Writing for Cash Made Easy

GirlFightMovie.com, LLC (MOD)

01/15/19 — Released Teen Girl Fight Club

Grapevine Video (MOD)

01/15/19 — Released Monty Hale Double Feature (2 film set: Pioneer Marshal, The Missourians), Quicksand, White Gold (silent-1927) and Zorro Rides Again (12 Chapter Serial) (2 disc set)

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)

01/15/19 — Released 12 Round Gun, The Guardians, Insufferable Groo, Nowhere Michigan, Sea Monsters 2 and Unfinished Plan: The Path of Alain Johannes

Gunpower & Sky (MOD)

01/08/19 — Released Hounds of Love

Harpodeon (MOD)

01/15/19 — Released Juggernaut (silent-1915)

Icarus Films

02/12/19 — Sets Moscow Never Sleeps (Russian)

02/26/19 — Sets Wronged

Indican Pictures

02/12/19 — Sets Moscow Never Sleeps (Russian)

02/26/19 — Sets Wronged

Lionsgate Home Entertainment

01/15/19 — Released Speed Kills

MVD Entertainment Group

04/09/19 — Sets At the Drive-In

Mazz Appeal Films (MOD)

01/15/19 — Released Real Cases of Shadow People: The Sarah McCormick Story

Paramount Home Media

02/05/19 — Adds Nella the Princess Knight: Royal Quests

03/05/19 — Sets Instant Family (ARR of 109 days; box office: $66,680,395)

03/12/19 — Sets Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Rogue Video (MOD)

01/08/19 — Released Don't Look in the Basement (aka: The Forgotten)

01/15/19 — Released Nightmare Never Ends (aka: Cataclysm)

Serpent Films (MOD)

01/15/19 — Released Martin Luther

Severin Films, LLC

01/15/19 — Released Jack the Ripper

01/29/19 — Sets All the Colors of the Dark (Italian), Ecco/The Forbidden and Mondo Freudo/Mondo Bizarro

02/19/19 — Sets Skinner

Smart Mark Video (MOD)

01/15/19 — Released AAW: Windy City Classic XIV - Merrionette Park, IL, Best of Matt Tremont: The Bulldozer 2018: Veteran of Violence and Making Towns Wrestling: A New Beginning - Chattanooga, TN

Uncork’d Entertainment (MOD)

01/15/19 — Released Basement

Universal Pictures Home Ent.

01/22/19 — Sets Johnny English Strikes Again (ARR of 88 days; box office: $4,253,875)

02/26/19 — Sets Mary Queen of Scots (ARR of 81 days; box office: $15,229,520)

Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.

02/26/19 — Sets Ralph Breaks the Internet (ARR of 95 days; box office: $190,493,680)

Warner Bros. Home Ent.

03/05/19 — Sets Creed II (ARR of 102 days; box office: $114,886,045)

03/12/19 — Sets Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (ARR of 116 days; box office: $158,520,703)

YRF Home Entertainment

01/15/19 — Released Thugs of Hindostan (Hindi) (2 disc set) (ARR of 67 days; box office: $1,449,848)

Blu-ray New Additions:

Cleopatra Music & Film

04/05/19 — Sets Todd Rundgren's Utopia - Live At Chicago Theatre (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, with 2 bonus CDs)

Criterion Collection

04/09/19 — Sets Night on Earth and Stranger Than Paradise/Permanent Vacation

04/16/19 — Sets Diamonds of the Night (Czech/German)

04/23/19 — Sets Face in the Crowd

04/30/19 — Sets Jackie Chan: Police Story (Cantonese)/Police Story 2 (Cantonese) (2 disc set) and My Brilliant Career

Eccentric Exhibits (MOD)

01/15/19 — Released Misanthropic Cow

Epic Pictures Group, Inc.

01/15/19 — Released Dry Blood

FUNimation

01/15/19 — Released Black Clover Season 1, Part 2 (2 Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy) and Overlord II (2 Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack) (Digital Copy)

Grapevideo Videos (MOD)

01/15/19 — Released White Gold (silent-1927) and Zorro Rides Again (12 Chapter Serial)

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)

01/15/19 — Released 12 Round Gun, The Guardians, Insufferable Groo, Nowhere Michigan Sea Monsters 2 and Unfinished Plan: The Path of Alain Johannes

Gunpower & Sky (MOD)

01/08/19 — Released Hounds of Love

Kino Lorber

01/15/19 — Released Four Times That Night (Italian), Knives of the Avenger (Italian) and Pink Panther Cartoon Collection, Volume 4

Lionsgate Home Entertainment

01/15/19 — Released Speed Kills (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

Mazz Appeal Films (MOD)

01/15/19 — Released Real Cases of Shadow People: The Sarah McCormick Story

Mill Creek Entertainment

03/12/19 — Sets Spaghetti Western Double Feature (2 film set: Fort Yuma Gold (aka: For A Few Extra Dollars), Damned Hot Day of Fire (aka: Gatling Gun) (with Digital Copy)

Movie Channel

01/15/19 — Released Immanuel (Malayalam) (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)

Paramount Home Media

03/05/19 — Sets Instant Family (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

Scorpion Releasing

01/15/19 — Released Psychic (Italian) and Rituals (aka: The Creeper)

Sentai FilmWorks

01/15/19 — Released Rocket Girls: The Complete Collection

Severin Films, LLC

01/15/19 — Released Jack the Ripper

01/29/19 — Sets All the Colors of Giallo (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, with bonus CD), All the Colors of the Dark (Italian), Ecco/The Forbidden and Mondo Freudo/Mondo Bizarro

02/19/19 — Sets Skinner

Shout! Factory

01/15/19 — Released Glass Key, Howling III: The Marsupials, Obsession: Collector's Edition, Plague Dogs, Plague of the Zombies and Saturday the 14th

Smart Mark Video (MOD)

01/01/19 — Released Combat Zone Wrestling: Cage of Death XX - Philadelphia, PA

01/08/19 — Released IWA Mid-South: Big Ass Christmas Bash - Jeffersonville, IN and Unsanctioned Pro: Capital City Chaos - Columbus, OH

01/15/19 — Released AAW: Windy City Classic XIV - Merrionette Park, IL

Twilight Time

01/22/19 — Sets Beat the Devil, Return of Frank James, Untamed and Yanks

02/19/19 — Sets Admirable Crichton, Bedazzled, Talk Radio and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?

Uncork’d Entertainment (MOD)

01/15/19 — Released Basement

Universal Pictures Home Ent.

01/15/19 — Released 2 Guns (with Digitical Copy), King Kong: Ultimate Edition (with Digital Copy), Les Miserables (with Digital Copy), Purge: Anarchy (with Digital Copy), Safe House (with Digital Copy) and Smokey and the Bandit: 40th Anniversary Edition (with Digital copy)

01/22/19 — Sets Johnny English Strikes Again (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

02/26/19 — Sets Mary Queen of Scots (with Digital Copy)

VCI Entertainment

03/12/19 — Sets Beyond Atlantis (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)

VIZ Media

01/15/19 — Released Hunter X Hunter Set 5 (4 disc set)

Vinegar Syndrome

01/22/19 — Sets Climax of Blue Power (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack), Splatter University (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack), There's Nothing Out There (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) and Uninvited (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)

Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.

01/15/19 — Released Doctor Strange (with Digital Copy)

01/29/19 — Adds Willow (with Digital Copy)

02/26/19 — Sets Ralph Breaks the Internet (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

Warner Bros. Home Ent.

03/05/19 — Sets Creed II (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

03/12/19 — Sets Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

Well Go U.S.A.

01/15/19 — Released Jonathan

YRF Home Entertainment

01/15/19 — Released Thugs of Hindostan (Hindi) (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)

4K Ultra HD New Additions:

 

Universal Pictures Home Ent.

02/26/19 — Sets Mary Queen of Scots (4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.

02/26/19 — Sets Ralph Breaks the Internet (4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

Warner Bros. Home Ent.

03/05/19 — Sets Creed II (4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

03/12/19 — Sets Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

MVD Entertainment Group Will Bring Documentary Filmmaker Alexander Monelli's At The Drive-In To The DVD Marketplace oN Apr. 9

MVD Entertainment Group announced this past week that documentary filmmaker Alexander Monelli’s At the Drive-In will be making its way to the DVD marketplace on Apr. 9.

They were the rage in the 1950s and ‘60s, the neighborhood drive-in theatre.   Kids of the Baby Boom could be packed in the family automobile and make a family night at the movies, complete with hot dogs, pop corn and anything else that could be stowed in the car (include teens in the trunk).

But as the suburbs blossomed, so did property values and the need for strip mauls, apartments and homes.   The property value of an eight, ten or more acre parcel became more valuable than the business of showing movies … and one by one by they closed.

Filmmaker Alexander Monelli originally had in mind a film about drive-in theatres in general, but as he worked on the project he came across the die-hards of Lehighton, Pennsylvania and the Mahoning Drive-In.   Their story seemed to encapsulate the entirety of the lifecycle this unique theatrical venue.

First established in 1949, the venue stayed mainstream (meaning first run) as long as they could, but the day came when upgrades to the new digital projection methods and the money simply wasn’t there.   

Close up, sell off the land and call it a day?    Never, the staff and fans of drive-ins rallied to the Mahoning Drive-In, volunteered their time and turned it into a retro boutique venue (meaning 35mm projection) and carry on.   At the Drive-In is their story in particular … and drive-ins in general.

Bonus goodies include commentary from filmmaker Alexander Monelli and deleted scenes.

Of note, the new season (April through the end of October) for the Mahoning Drive-In begins on Apr. 26 with the double bill presentation of The Wizard of Oz and Willy Wonka and Chocolate Factory.   

Paramount Home Media Tabs Mar. 5 For Writer/Director Sean Anders' Instant Family

Ever since that bad boy Marky Mark guy of the ‘90s rock group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch changed his ways and took up acting he has become “money in the bank.”    Of course the “Marky Mark” guy is Mark Wahlberg and his latest dramedy hit is writer/director Sean Anders’ Instant Family.

Word from Paramount Home Media this past week that Instant Family will be making its way to the home entertainment marketplace on Mar. 5 as both DVD and Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack product offerings.

It arrives home with an ARR of 109 days and ticket sales were a solid $66.7 million.

Based on filmmaker Sean Anders (he previously teamed with Wahlberg for the two Daddy’s Home films) own experiences with adoption, Instant Family veers between comedy and drama and in doing so mirrors the tear-in-your-eye ups and heartbreaking downs of taking on the parenting of a teenager … with two younger siblings.

Pete (Wahlberg) and his wife Ellie (Rose Byrne — two-time Emmy nominee for her role as Ellen Parsons in Damages, plus such films as Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Troy, Insidious: The Last Key, X-Men: Apocalypse, etc.) seem to have everything.   They buy and “flip” homes, Pete’s a whiz at construction … it has, in many ways, become a successful livelihood, but without meaning, because it is just the two of them growing older; there’s no family.

Ellie is the first to recognize this and gets Pete to go along with the plan of attending a meet-and-greet session event at a foster care facility.   One thing leads to another and in short order Pete and Ellie take an interest in Lizzie (Isabela Moner — Sicario: Day of the Soldado, Transformers: The Last Knight), a troubled teen.

But, and this is a big BUT, social workers Karen (Octavia Spencer) and Sharon (Tig Notaro) inform the pair that the smart-mouth Lizzie has two younger siblings who are also in foster care as a result of their mother being a drug addict.   It’s like agreeing to take a kitten home and then being informed that the kitten has a baby sister that no one wants … “can you make a home for that baby too?”  How can you say no?

Pete and Ellie suddenly have an “instant family” and are very much in the deep end of the pool from the get-go.   The film could have been played as an updating of the 1968 comedy classic starring Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball, Yours, Mine and Ours, but instead filmmaker Sean Anders gives us both the good and the bad … all the moments of joy as well as the anger and frustration of a rebellious teenager who seems hell-bent on shredding all of Pete’s and Ellie’s good intentions.

Bonus goodies, which are limited to the Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, include both and an introduction and commentary by writer/director Sean Anders and his co-writer John Morris (they have been working as a team since 2005), deleted and extended scenes, a gag reel, the music video by Isabela Moner titled “I’ll Stay” and eight featurettes — “Mr. and Mrs. Fix-It,” “Kid Power,” “I Need Some Support,” “Order in the Court,” “The Families Behind the Fair,” “Crew Inspiration,” “The Anders Family” and “On Set Proposal.”

In other release news this week from Paramount Home Media, we find that Nickelodeon’s all-new animated reboot of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise will make its first DVD appearance on Mar. 12 with the debut of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Meet Raph, Leo, Donnie and Mikey, the ninjas-in-training in seven thrill-packed episodes that take place under the streets of New York City.   The neophyte ninjas discover that Baron Draxum rules the underworld with the help of the Oozesquitos and the creation of mutants is the Baron’s bag.   They also have to be on the lookout for the mutated chef by the name of Meat Sweats who is working on a secret recipe to cook the four turtles and in doing so gain their super powers … gulp!