Mill Creek Entertainment's Next "Retro VHS" Blu-ray Promotion Has Been Locked In For Oct. 19

They’re back!!  

Mill Creek Entertainment’s popular “Retro VHS” line of Blu-ray products returns on Oct. 19 with four new priced-to-collect selections.

First up is director Genevieve Robert’s 1988 comedy, Casual Sex?, starring Lea Thompson and Victoria Jackson.

In one of those weird Hollywood production stories, Ivan Reitman, who had just scored big-time with Ghostbusters and was thinking even bigger — like producing films — caught a performance of “Casual Sex” at The Groundlings Theater in the Los Angeles area and thought that the play might make an entertaining movie.  He approached the play’s authors, Wendy Goldman and Judy Toll, to write a screenplay based on their material.   Neither had written a movie script before, but they said sure and gave it a try.

Reitman would produce, he gave the directing chores to his wife, Geneviève Robert, it was the first time for her as well … and then he when out and recruited one of the hottest young actors at the time, Lea Thompson, who had done well with Back to the Future and Some Kind of Wonderful, she would be his Stacy.   He still needed the Melissa character and that would end up being Victoria Jackson, who had small parts in Baby Boom and The Pick-Up Artist … this would be a big move up for her and a long way from her late-night appearances on The Johnny Carson Show.

If you are looking for action, as opposed to a romantic comedy, then Mill Creek Entertainment has you covered on Oct. 19 with director Jack Sholder’s Renegades, teaming Lou Diamond Phillips with Kiefer Sutherland.

20-year-old Kiefer Sutherland registered well in Stand by Me as bad boy Ace Merrill and then his breakout came in The Lost Boys in 1987, followed by Young Guns in 1988.

His co-star, Lou Diamond Philips had just catapulted to stardom in 1987 with his portrayal of Ritchie Valens in La Bamba … and the chemistry was good with Sutherland in the ensemble piece, Young Guns, so they were teamed as miss-matched buddies here in Renegades.

Rounding out the “Retro VHS” Blu-ray selections from Mill Creek on Oct. 19 are Kull the Conqueror, starring Kevin Sorbo and Tia Carrere, and Splitting Heirs, featuring Rick Moranis, Eric Idle, John Cleese, Barbara Hershey and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

 

 

Cauldron Films Readies The Blu-ray Debut Of Writer/Director Michael Costanza's The Collinswood Story For Release On Oct. 05

Way, way back in 2002, writer/director Michael Costanza delivered The Collingswood Story, a direct-to-video “micro” budget horror tale.   As with many such films, they either disappear or they develop a following that far exceeds all expectations.     The Collingswood Story falls into the latter group.

Cauldron Films, with sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, announced this past week that the Blu-ray debut — from a new hi-def transfer supervised by Costanza — of The Collingswood Story will be available on Oct. 5.

It seems a simple story, perhaps even Eric Yuan drew inspiration from it (wouldn’t that be cool), but back in 2002 it was cutting-edge for Rebecca Miles (Stephanie Dees — The Creature of the Sunny Side Up Trailer Park) to go off to college and her boyfriend, Johnny (Johnny Burton), would hit upon the idea of a webcam set up so that they could remain in contact (and not just by phone or email).   When they add one more to the mix, they’ve actually hit upon Eric Yuan’s vision of Zoom, which wasn’t launched until 2011 … nine years after The Collingswood Story went the direct-to-DVD route!!!

The third person they invited to their “pre-Zoom” universe is a would-be psychic by the name of Vega Madeline (Diane Behrens — Moneyball), who Johnny invites to help solve some mysteries that Rebecca has discovered pertaining to the place where she is staying, Collingswood.   Things quickly go downhill from there.

Over the years, The Collingswood Story has attracted a following among genre fans who recognize it, even for its faults, as precursor to a whole series of bigger budget films that followed … all having something to do with video streaming and/or “found footage” narratives.

Bonus features here include commentary from writer/director Michael Costanza, a video session with the film’s star, Stephanie Dees, a behind-the-scenes featurette and a video session featuring John Burton and fellow actor, Grant Edmonds (Billy).

 

 

 

 

Director Lamberto Bava's Demons And Demons 2 Arrive On 4K Ultra HD From Synapse Films On Oct. 19

Synapse Films, with sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has selected Oct. 19 as the street date for the double-disc special edition 4K Ultra HD launch of director Lamberto Bava's 1985 (1986 domestic) horror tale, Demons, and his 1986 (’87 domestic) follow-up, Demons 2.

Whether it is trapped in a movie theatre or terrorized in a high-rise apartment building, Lamberto Bava found the magic formula for terror in the mid-1980s with these two back-to-back classics … and now they have their 4K Ultra HD debuts as one package.  

It is a genre fan delight and Synapse Films knows exactly what is necessary to make this work … loads and loads and loads of bonus features, so let us get right to it.

For Demons, there will be the full-length original cut, presented in both English and Italian, and the shorter U.S. release with alternate English dubbed dialog.   There is also a newly-minted commentary track featuring film critics and the hosts of Hell’s Belles, Kat Ellinger and Heather Drain, plus Synapse is also including the vintage commentary track with filmmaker Lamberto Bava, F/X artists Sergio Stivaletti, actress Geretta Geretta (aka: Geretta Giancarlo) and composer Claudio Simonetti.

There’s a new video session featuring author and film critic Michael Mackenzie titled “Demons: Produced by Dario Argento and a whopping eight featurettes, plus 2019 Festival of Fantastic Films Q&A session.

Demons 2 arrives on 4K Ultra HD with a new commentary provided by film critic Travis Crawford and seven featurettes.

In addition, there is a reproduction of the original movie ticket used in Demons.

 

 

 

AGFA Targets Sept. 28 For The Blu-ray Release Of What Really Happened To Baby Jane? And The Films Of the Gay Girls Riding Club

AGFA (aka: American Genre Film Archive) has assembled a unique slice of cinematic history with the Blu-ray collection titled What Really Happened to Baby Jane? And the Films of the Gay Girls Riding Club.  

Working with Outfest and the UCLA Film & Television, this AGFA film collection will be available on Sept. 28.   Some of the material is being seen for the first time since they were screened in underground venues back in 1960s … even the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) is a little sketchy on some of the selections included here (they are that rare).

These are new 2K film restorations from surviving 16mm film sources.

Indie filmmaker Ray Harrison hooked up with the Gay Girls Riding Club back in the early 1960s and they made a series of truly indie films — almost like home movies, which tended to spoof movies in the mainstream.

Key among the selections here is the 1963 short film (31 minutes) titled What Really Happened to Baby Jane?, a drag parody of the Bette Davis and Joan Crawford 1962 classic, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Other films in the collection include The Roman Springs on Mrs. Stone (circa 1963) and Spy on the Fly (1967), plus director Ray Harrison’s All About Alice, which actually saw some release activity back in 1972.  

As to bonus goodies, What Really Happened to Baby Jane? features commentary from AGFA’s Bret Berg and film historian Evan Purchell.   There are also outtakes from All About Alice.

 

Paramount Home Entertainment Looks To Oct. 19 For Wes Craven's Scream As A 4K Ultra HD Product Offering

Paramount Home Entertainment announced this past week that director Wes Craven’s cinematic jewel, Scream, will be celebrating its. 25^th Anniversary on Oct. 19 with a new 4K re-mastered presentation of the film.  

There will be both 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray SKUs of Scream: 25^th Anniversary Edition available for this Halloween-season promotion.

As to bonus features, there is a newly-prepared documentary titled A Bloody Legacy: Scream 25 Years Later, plus the vintage commentary track featuring Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson, featurettes and a Q&A session with members of the cast and crew.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Picks Sept. 28 As The Street Date For The Forever Purge

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has circled Sept. 28 on its release calendar for a three-SKU serving of director Everardo Gout's latest install in The Purge film franchise, The Forever Purge.

The ARR comes in at 88 days and domestic box office receipts are right at $44 million.

Planned for distribution are Combo Pack editions for both the 4K Ultra HD (with Blu-ray) and Blu-ray (with DVD) formats, plus a stand-alone DVD edition.

One night a year is not enough for some as the fifth installment in screenwriter James DeMonaco’s dystopian view of America introduces roving bands of Purge participants who have grown a taste for the chaos and murder.   Perhaps signaling the end-of-the-line for the series.

Bonus features deleted scenes, an alternate “storyboard” opening and a pair of featurettes — “Collapsing the System: Behind The Forever Purge” and “Creeptastic Wardrobe.”

 

 

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Makes It "Official" ... Cruella Will Be Available As A Three-SKU Release On Sept. 21

Since early June, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has been aware that director Craig Gillespie’s Cruella, starring Emma Stone, is being pirated on Blu-ray at multiple sites.   How do we know that?   We told them. 

They don’t care.  It has become painfully obvious that the studio is all-in on the Disney+ streaming platform.   With 116 million subscribers, it’s hard to say that they are wrong … but is this the apex?   What follows, 120 million … or the long decline?

Within hours of a major theatrical release rolling out to theatres nationwide and  debuting on Disney+ — on a day/date basis — a pristine film master is literally available for certain online “retailers” (they don’t call themselves Black Beard or Long John Silver, but you get the idea) to begin serving up Blu-ray editions (and DVD, although Blu-ray manufactured on-demand seems to be the mainstay of such activities these days) of the latest big-budget theatrical release.

Black Widow,  Jungle Cruise and Cruella (and more, many more) are all to be counted among the films that Disney fails to do due-diligence on in terms of stamping down the blatant piracy of these films.   Exhibitors, producers and talent are all being sacrificed as “collateral damage” so that Disney+ can be the end-all for the distribution of the studio’s film and series productions.  Period.

Just this last week, Warner Bros. announced that they would delay HBO Max day/date windows by 30 days to help struggling theatre-owners nationwide.  Disney has made no such move.  

Scarlett Johannson filed a high-profile lawsuit for $18 million in damages over the way the studio handled the release of Black Widow, they responded by calling her insensitive … that her lawsuit was nothing more than a publicity stunt.   But the studio has done nothing to stop the piracy of Black Widow by the same online “retailers” that have nibbled-away at Cruella and taken a bite out of the Jungle Cruise.

This past week, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment announced that Cruella would be heading home as a three-SKU home entertainment packaged-media release on Sept. 21.  

Since Cruella has been available since early June, it is pretty clear that Marc Platt (Marc Platt Productions) and Andrew Gunn (Gunn Films), the film’s producers, along with Emma Stone, can make a pretty good case that damages have occurred as a result of Disney’s less than stellar efforts to protect Cruella from outside forces.  

But wink wink, nod nod, it is just a cost of doing business … talent, producers and exhibitors, who have a stake in the game, are all secondary to the Disney+ streaming platform.  Prove that you’ve been harmed, good luck. 

Enough with the rant, but you get the idea.  

As for SKU configuration, there will be Combo Pack editions for the 4K Ultra HD (with Blu-ray) and Blu-ray (with DVD) formats, plus a DVD selection.

The ARR for the “official” home entertainment release works out to 116 days.   Box office receipts currently stand at $85.7 million.   How much would it have grossed theatrically with reasonable release windows?   Pick a number, prove it, good luck ... Disney has the Covid-19 defense on their side.

Bonus goodies include a blooper reel, deleted scenes and five featurettes.