Severin Films Restores Uncut Version Of Writer/Director John A. Russo's Midnight For Blu-ray And DVD Release On Sept. 28

Back in May of 1982, the 28^th to be precise, director Jean-Claude Lord’s Visiting Hours and writer/director John Russo’s Midnight opened theatrically.   Both are genre films, catering to similar audiences … in the end, Visiting Hours did more business, it was a studio release, while Midnight found a home at Independent-International Pictures.

That’s unfortunate that both films opened theatrically at the same time, and while there is nothing wrong with Visiting Hours — a nice little horror entry — history records that Midnight is actually the more significant of the two.  

The reason is the filmmaker himself, John A. Russo, who teamed with iconic horror filmmaker, George A. Romero back in 1968 for Night of the Living Dead, which was the beginning of a long and fruitful career as an author, screenwriter, producer and director.

Word arrived this past week from Severin Films, with sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, that a new 4K film restoration — from the thought-to-be-lost uncut version of Midnight — will be making its way to the home entertainment marketplace as both DVD and Blu-ray product offerings on Sept. 28.

Midnight owes much to Wes Craven’s Last House on the Left, as the fate of Nancy (Melanie Verlin — Monkey Shines), our heroine, goes from grim, to horrible, to down-right insane.   If you could have people more crazed than Krug Stillo and his gang from Last House on the Left, you’ve found them here in the backwoods of Pennsylvania.  

Inbred Satan-worshipers who kill on impulse and who have just added Nancy — a teenage runaway — to their caged trio of young woman who will be sacrificed (murdered) for their blood (don’t ask).

Does she survive?   Does anyone survive?   If you haven’t seen Midnight (it has been out of print since 2005), the answer won’t be revealed until the final moments of the film!!   And for that, you will have to wait until Sept. 28.

As to bonus goodies for this very grim horror tale, there are four extensive video sessions … the first with filmmaker John A. Russo (Midnight 2, Santa Claws), and the other three featuring producer Samuel M. Sherman, actor John Amplas, who plays Abraham, but is perhaps best known to genre fans as Martin from George A. Romero’s 1977 horror film, Martin … and the last video session is with SFX artist Tom Savini, who provided the special effects here.

 

 

 

Hardball And Breakdown Head To Blu-ray On Sept. 21 From Paramount Home Entertainment

Paramount Home Entertainment announced this past week that there will be a 20^th Anniversary celebration on Sept. 21 with the Blu-ray debut of director Brian Robbins’ 2001 film adaptation of Daniel Coyle’s book, “Hardball: A Season in the Projects,” which was shortened for its theatrical release to just Hardball.

Keanu Reeves, between Matrix movies, did The Replacements, The Watcher, Sweet November and this gritty fish-out-of-water story about an addicted gambler who must coach a group of unruly and undisciplined kids to find redemption.

Bonus features include commentary from director Brian Robbins (Varsity Blues, The Perfect Score, Meet Dave, Norbit) and screenwriter John Gatins (Oscar-nominated for his Flight screenplay, plus scripts for such films as Summer Catch, Coach Carter and Dreamer), deleted scenes, the Lil’ Bow Wow, Lil’ Wayne, Lil’ Zane and Sammie. music video titled “Hardball” and “The Making of Hardball” featurette.

Also heading home on Sept. 21 is the latest addition to the “Paramount Presents” Blu-ray library, director Jonathan Mostow’s Breakdown, starring Kurt Russell, Kathleen Quinlan and J.T. Walsh.

Bonus features for this edge-of-your-seat thriller include newly-prepared commentary with Kurt Russell and filmmaker Jonathan Mostow, an alternate opening (with optional commentary from Mostow) and a trio of featurettes — “Filmmaker Focus: Director Jonathan Mostow on Breakdown,” “Victory is Hers” and “A Brilliant Partnership.”

 

 

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Readies Director Jon M. Chu's In The Heights For Release On Aug. 31

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will be bringing director Jon M. Chu’s film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony-winning Broadway Musical, In the Heights, to the home entertainment packaged media marketplace on Aug. 31 as a three-SKU product offering.

The ARR comes in at 81 days and domestic box office receipts from the film’s mid-June theatrical launch currently stand at $28.3 million. 

In a normal summer-season theatrical run, In the Heights would have had a significantly higher box office number, but the studio’s continuing use of day/date HBO Max rollouts cut into that potential.   With a reported production budget of $55 million, it becomes a “new math” problem as to whether this strategy makes sense in a post-Covid marketplace.   Time will tell.

Planned for release are a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack, plus stand-alone DVD and Blu-ray editions.

Anthony Ramos (Honest Thief, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, A Star is Born) and Melissa Barrera (popular star of several Mexican telenovelas) star in this joyous musical celebration of the life and culture of New York City’s Washington Heights.

Bonus features, which are limited to the Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD SKUs, include a sing-along mode and seven music videos.

 

The Criterion Collection Announces Its October Of 2021 Slate Of Films Restorations Heading To Blu-ray And DVD

The Criterion Collection has an exciting October lineup of new film restorations that will be making their way to movie buffs as both DVD and Blu-ray product offerings during the course of the month.

There’s no better place to start than with director Raoul Walsh’s double-bill on Blu-ray (two disc set) and DVD (a three-disc configuration), which streets on Oct. 12.   Topping the action is a new 4K film restoration of Walsh’s January of 1941 film adaptation of W. R. Burnett's novel, High Sierra, starring Ida Lupino and “B-movie” gangster veteran Humphrey Bogart as Roy "Mad Dog" Earle … after this, Bogart was a star with top-billing (it only took ten years and 38 previous film roles to get there).  

But even getting the role was a struggle for him to land as George Raft, Paul Muni, James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson were all considered for the part, but without Bogart here, it might have been just another crime drama.

Teamed with High Sierra is Walsh’s 1949 remake as a Western, Colorado Territory, starring Joel McCrea as Wes McQueen (the Bogart equivalent), Virginia Mayo as Colorado Carson (Ida Lupino), with Dorothy Malone as Julie Ann Winslow, which was the Velma character portrayed by Joan Leslie in High Sierra.

Bonus features include documentary filmmaker Marilyn Ann Moss’ 2014 feature-length documentary titled The True Adventures of Raoul Walsh, the April of 1944 Screen Guild Theatre radio broadcast of High Sierra (with Ida Lupino), The South Bank Show episode titled “Bogart: Here's Looking at You, Kid” and more.

Another terrific release — especially for genre fans — from the Criterion Collection during the month of October takes place on Oct. 19 with the arrival of Blu-ray and double-disc DVD editions of director Jack Arnold’s 1957 atomic-age sci-fi thriller, The Incredible Shrinking Man.

This is a new 4K film restoration. 

Tarantulas have a relatively short life-span, but “Tamara” got two starring credits in her short film career.   Here, as the normal-sized menace of the once-normal guy by the name of Robert Scott Carey (Grant Williams — The Monolith Monsters, The Leech Woman), and as the featured creature in another Jack Arnold classic, the Thanksgiving of 1955 theatrical release of the sci-fi treasure, Tarantula.

In The Incredible Shrinking Man, we have Carey out on a routine boating trip one afternoon with his wife Louise (Randy Short — I Was a Male War Bride, Man from God's Country).  While she is below deck, their boat passes through a strange mist and he ends up being covered with a powder-like substance … he thinks nothing of it.

Time passes and he begins to notice that his clothes are not fitting right.   He is literally shrinking, getting smaller each day.   Doctors deduce that his exposure on the boat was somehow related to radiation and begin work on an experimental serum to stop the process, but sadly, cannot reverse it.   

The effect is only halted for a while and then Carey begins getting smaller once again.   He is attacked by the family cat and Louise assumes the worst.   Alone in the basement, the third act features one of the great man-versus-creature battles of all time as the inch-sized Carey is pitted against a deadly spider in a fight for his life!

Bonus goodies include a newly-prepared commentary teaming film historian Tom Weaver with horror-music expert David Schecter (the pair teamed for the book titled “Universal Terrors 1951-1955: Eight Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Films”), documentary filmmaker Daniel Griffith’s 2013 documentary titled Auteur on the Campus: Jack Arnold at Universal, a vintage interview with Jack Arnold (circa 1983), the 8MM home-cinema version of the film … and more.

Rounding-out the October selections from the Criterion Collection are: Japanese filmmaker Kaneto Shindô’s 1964 film, Onibaba (Oct. 5), writer/director      Lynne Ramsay’s Ratcatcher (Oct. 19), and the month concludes with the Oct. 26 releases of director Satyajit Ray’s 1960 film, Devi and the writing and directing team of Benny and Josh Safdie’s Uncut Gems, starring Adam Sandler.

 

Shout! Factory Picks Sept. 28 As The Street Date For The Release Of The First Five Halloween Films As 4K Ultra Hd/Blu-ray Combo Pack Editions

Shout! Factory has tabbed Sept. 28 for the release of the first five films in the Halloween series as 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack editions.

Director John Carpenter’s Halloween, starring Jamie Lee Curtis, was released theatrically in 1978 and became one of the great horror film franchises … spawning eleven films in the series, with two more from director David Gordon Green on the way (Halloween Kills, with Jamie Lee Curtis, is slated for an Oct. 15 theatrical launch, while Halloween Ends is scheduled for an October of 2022 release).

 

The original Halloween has been given a new 4K film restoration from the original camera negative (supervised by cinematographer Dean Cundey) and comes with two commentary options — the first featuring John Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis and the second with director of photography Dean Cundey, editor Tommy Lee Wallace and actor Nick Castle (Michael Myers).

Halloween II (1981), Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) all feature new 4K film restorations and come with at least two commentary options … and a boatload of bonus goodies.

 

 

New DVD • Blu-ray • 4K Ultra HD Activity For The Period Ending July 09, 2021

 

 

New DVD Additions

 

Acorn Media

07/06/21 — Released Bäckström: Series 1 (2 disc set)

 

Arrow Video

07/06/21 — Released Threshold

 

Bayview Entertainment

09/14/21 — Sets American Visa (Spanish), Gentle Seated Chair Yoga for Beginners With Sarah Starr, Gentle Yoga for Beginners With Sarah Starr, Gold Dust, Joe & Joe, Max and Me and Stinger

 

Big Pieces

07/06/21 — Released Road to the Lemon Grove

 

Breaking Glass Pictures

07/06/21 — Released Mad Hatter

 

Bridgestone Multimedia Group

07/06/21 — Released Backs Against The Wall: The Howard Thurman Story

 

CBS Home Entertainment (MOD)

07/06/21 — Released No Activity: Season 2

 

C Vision (MOD)

07/06/21 — Released Staples Sub EMDs Volume 1 and Staples Sub EMDs Volume 2

 

Creature Features (MOD)

06/29/21 — Released Dr. Crippen Lives (German), Hand of Night (aka: Beast of Morocco), La Chocca (Spanish), La Strega in Amore (Italian), Lost Slaves of the Amazon, Maciste, The Gladiator in the World (Italian), Mania (Italian), Sei Kazuko (Japanese), Summer Camp Nightmare, Surrogate and Violent Face of New York (English dubbed)

 

Dark Star Pictures

07/06/21 — Released Deadly Illusions

 

Dreamscape Media, LLC

07/06/21 — Released 007: For Our Eyes Only, One Day University: America in WWI: What Really Happened, And Why It Matters, One Day University: Strategic Thinking and Thinking Big, One Day University: The New Cold War: Russia and the U.S. (What Went Wrong?), One Day University: What We Know About the Brain (And What We Don't), One Day University: WWII: Surprising Stories You Never Learned in History Class and Time Capsule 69

 

EWTN

07/06/21 — Released @ Home with Jim & Joy: Jim and Joy Pinto Answer Viewer Calls, Questions, And E-Mails Live From the Pinto House, @ Home with Jim & Joy: Ron St. Angelo /Sharing Talent And Skill To Capture The Richness Of The Catholic Faith, Called to Communion, Women of Grace: Fr. Edward Looney - Mary's Maternal Influence, A Consideration for Our Spiritual Life,Women of Grace: Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P. - The Precious Blood of Jesus, the Eucharist and His Real Presence and World Over with Raymond Navarro: Ribert Royal, Dr. Anthony Oliva

 

Elvis DVD Collector/ Movie Store (MOD)

07/06/21 — Released Barbary Pirate, Challenge of the McKennas (Spanish), Curse of the Alpha Stone, Fugitive, Gazebo, Hard Sensation (Italian), Hook, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hurricane, Last of the Mohicans, Little Shop of Horrors, Lusty Men, Mad Miss Manton, Magnificent Ambersons, Narrow Margin, Outlaw, Phantom Planet, Pride of the Yankees, Scarlet Pimpernel, Search, Shaggy Dog, They Live by Night, They Won't Believe Me, Thin Man, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Three Faces West, Tom, Dick and Harry, Tortilla Flat, Treasure Island, Virginia City, Wagon Master, Waterloo Bridge, White Heat, Without Reservations, Working it Out and Zombies of Mora Tau

 

Epic Pictures Group

07/06/21 — Released Doors and Space Dogs: Tropical Adventure

 

Film Movement

07/06/21 — Released Beate (Italian)

 

Filmlandia

07/06/21 — Released Movie Hoarders: VHS to DVD and Beyond!

 

Freestyle Digital Media (MOD)

07/06/21 — Released Illegal

 

Giant Interactive (MOD)

07/06/21 — Released With Drawn Arms

 

Good Deed Entertainment

07/06/21 — Released 15 Things You Didn't Know About Bigfoot

 

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)

07/06/21 — Released Closed for Storm, Marathon, Miracle on 4th Street, No Loss, No Gain and Undergods

 

Greenwich Entertainment

07/06/21 — Released When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (German)

 

Hallmark Channel

07/06/21 — Released 2 Movie Collection (2 film set: Love to the Rescue, Like Cats and Dogs), Royal Love Collection (2 film set: Fit for a Prince, My Summer Prince) and Ruby Herring Mysteries (3 film set: Silent Witness, Her Last Breath, Prediction Murder)

 

ITN Distribution

07/06/21 — Released 13 Secrets (aka: Bangkok 13) (Thai), Claw, Honor Among Thieves and Scarecrow County

 

Icarus Films

08/24/21 — Sets Lost Course (Mandarin)

 

Image Entertainment

07/06/21 — Released Nightmare Wakes

 

IMDFilms, LLC

07/06/21 — Released Super Vixens 3

 

Indican Pictures

07/20/21 — Sets Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi Bearclaw (ARR of 158 days; box office: $8,117)

07/27/21 — Sets Boonies (ARR of 116 days: box office: $6,630)

08/04/21 — Sets 616 Wilford Lane

 

Indie Rights (MOD)

07/06/21 — Released Ruminations

 

IndiePix

07/06/21 — Released Power of Moths (Russian)

 

Kino Lorber

07/06/21 — Released Black Marble, Icy Breasts (French), Moments Without Proper Names, My Wonderful Wanda (German), Road to Salina and Widow Couderc (French)

 

Liberation Hall

07/06/21 — Released Elvis: Summer of '56

 

Liberator Films

07/06/21 — Released 42nd Street: The Musical (ARR of 795 days; box office: $187,440) and Hetty Feather

 

Movie Buffs Forever (MOD)

07/06/21 — Released Christmas Wife and Cold Heaven

 

Movie Detective (MOD)

07/06/21 — Released Bishop's Bedroom (Italian), Ein Blonder Traum (German), Happiness of Us Alone (Japanese), Surcos (Spanish), Trapped by Fear (French), Venice, the Moon and You (Italian) and Year of the Hare (Finnish)

 

NCircle Entertainment

07/06/21 — Released Magic School Bus Rides Again: Season 1 (2 disc set)

 

Once Upon a Time

07/06/21 — Released Holly Hippo's Book Club: Fairytale Heroes and Snow White's Storytime

 

PBS Direct

07/06/21 — Released Nature: Sharks of Hawaii and Nova: Picture A Scientist

 

Passion River (MOD)

07/06/21 — Released Daughter's Nightmare, Mother's Nightmare, Perfect High, Sister's Nightmare, Surrogate's Nightmare, Wife's Nightmare and Working Mom's Nightmare

 

Random Media (MOD)

07/06/21 — Released Avocado Toast

 

SRS Cinema

07/06/21 — Released Howl From Beyond The Fog, Dead Butterfly: The Prophecy of Suffering Bible, Door 1 of the 5 Doors to Hell, Hell's Bells and Sharks of the Corn

 

Screen Media

07/06/21 — Released Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street

 

Shout! Factory

07/06/21 — Released Dark Spell (Russian)

 

Smart Mark Video (MOD)

07/06/21 — Released H2O Wrestling: Deathiversary - Williamstown< NJ, IWA East Coast: Girl Fight Wrestling - Charleston, WV, IWA East Coast: Zero G Tournament - Charleston, WV, IWA Mid-South: Tag You're It - Jeffersonville, IN and Sean Henderson Presents: Birthday Blast - Williamstown, NJ

 

Sony Pictures Home Ent.

08/03/21 — Sets Here Today (ARR of 88 days: box office: $2,785,942)

 

Synergetic Distribution

07/06/21 — Released Once Again (Spanish)

 

Tempe Video

07/06/21 — Released Brimstone Incorporated

 

Warner Bros. Home Ent.

07/06/21 — Released Metalocalypse: Season Two (2 disc set), Venture Bros.: Complete Second Season (2 disc set) and Venture Bros.: Complete Third Season (2 disc set)

08/24/21 — Sets Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It (ARR of 81 days; box office: $62,554,101)

 

Well Go U.S.A.

07/06/21 — Released Silat Warriors: Deed of Death (Malaysian)

 

Wild Eye Releasing

07/06/21 — Released Sodomaniac and Stomach

 

World Wide Multi Media

07/06/21 — Released Sweet Prudence and the Erotic Adventures of Bigfoot

 

WOWnow Entertainment

07/06/21 — Released Ashley 2, Boonie Bears Forest Frenzy 7 Battle of the Brave, Conch Bay 2, Conspiracies: Season 1 (2 disc set), Fish School: Adventures with Jellyfish, Game On: The History of Football, Hearing On Gamestop's Stock, Kung Fu Masters of the Zodiac Season 2, Little Foot 2 and Pets 3

 

Zeus Video (MOD)

07/06/21 — Released B-Girl Rhapsody,Beat the Band, Beau Brummell, Bloody Mama, Calamity Jane and Sam Bass, Calcutta, Chase a Crooked Shadow, City of Chance, Come Fill the Cup, Daddy Long Legs, Danger: Love at Work, Dante's Inferno, Der Verlorene (German), Don't Give Up the Ship, Down Argentine Way, EdTV, Female, Firelight, Fort Osage, Game, Set, Match, Garden of the Moon, Gold Diggers in Paris, Gold Diggers of 1935, Gold Diggers of 1937, Golden Dawn, Goodbye, Columbus, Guys and Dolls, Happiness Ahead, Harakiri (silent-1919), Hollywood Hotel, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying,  In the French Style, June Bride and Thousand and One Nights

 

 

 

 

New Blu-ray Additions

 

Arrow Video

07/06/21 — Released Kijû Yoshida: Love + Anarchism (3 film set: Eros + Massacre, Heroic Purgatory, Coup d’état) (Japanese) (3 Blu-ray/4 DVD Combo Pack)

09/14/21 — Sets Cold War Creature Features (4 film set: Creature with the Atom Brain, The Werewolf, The Zombies of Mora Tau, The Giant Claw)

 

C Vision (MOD)

07/06/21 — Released Staples Sub EMDs Volume 1 and Staples Sub EMDs Volume 2

 

Collector’s Heaven (MOD)

06/29/21 — Released Ally McBeal: The Complete Series (5 disc set), Bob Newhart Show: The Complete Series (4 disc set), Captain Planet and the Planeteers - Both Old and New Series, Complete (3 disc set), Fear Factor: The Complete Series (7 disc set), Hill Street Blues: The Complete Series (7 disc set), Love Boat: The Complete Series (12 disc set), Moonlighting: The Complete Series (3 disc set) and St, Elsewhere: The Complete Series (8 disc set)

 

FUNimation

07/06/21 — Released All Out!!: The Complete Series (4 disc set), Gleipnir: The Complete Season (2 disc set) (with Digital Copy), One Piece: Season Eleven Voyage Three (2 Blu-ray/2 DVD Combo Pack), Shironeko Project Zero Chronicle (2 disc set) (with Digital Copy) and Visions Of Escaflowne: Complete Series (5 disc set)

 

Gravitas Ventures (MOD)

07/06/21 — Released Closed for Storm, Marathon, Miracle on 4th Street, No Loss, No Gain and Undergods

 

Indie Rights (MOD)

07/06/21 — Released Ruminations

 

Kino Lorber

07/06/21 — Released Black Marble, Icy Breasts (French), Moments Without Proper Names, Road to Salina and Widow Couderc (French)

 

Liberation Films

07/06/21 — Released 42nd Street: The Musical

 

Mill Creek Entertainment

09/21/21 — Sets Girls Night In Double Feature (2 film set: Meet Joe Black, Wimbledon)

 

Paramount Home Ent.

09/07/21 — Sets Star Trek: The Complete Original Series (20 disc set)

 

Sentai FilmWorks

07/06/21 — Released School-live The Movie (Japanese)

 

Severin Films

09/28/21 — Sets Drop Dead Fred

 

Shout! Factory

07/06/21 — Released Dark Spell (Russian)

 

Sony Pictures Home Ent.

08/03/21 — Sets Here Today

 

Smart Mark Video (MOD)

07/06/21 — Released CCW: Supreme Memorial Show - South Gate, CA and Underground Empire Wrestling: Hellbound - Sun Valley, CA

 

Spectacle Films (MOD)

07/06/21 — Released Gilligan Manifesto

 

Warner Bros. Home Ent.

08/24/21 — Sets Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It (with Digital Copy)

 

Well Go U.S.A.

07/06/21 — Released Silat Warriors: Deed of Death (Malaysian)

 

New 4K Ultra HD Additions

 

Paramount Home Ent.

09/07/21 — Sets Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection (4 film set: Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home) (4 4K Ultra HD/4 Blu-ray Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

 

Sony Pictures Home Ent.

07/06/21 — Released Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

 

Warner Bros. Home Ent.

07/06/21 — Released Space Jam (4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)

08/24/21 — Sets Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It (4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack) (with Digital Copy)