Bayview Entertainment Selects June 27 As The Street Date For The Blu-ray Edition Of Last Of The Grads

Bayview Entertainment has targeted June 27 for the Blu-ray debut of the writing and directing team of Jay Jenkins and Collin Kliewe’s serial-killer thriller, Last of the Grads.

This a classic victim pool/haunted house slasher film that comes together quite by accident.   Instead of the victim pool being warned to stay away from the creepy woods (with or without cabin), the abandoned insane asylum or the mansion with a history — pick a site or place, they are all, in the end, “haunted houses” — they are literally participating in a long-standing high school graduation ritual.

The ”haunted house” — in this case — is the local high school and the multitudes that flock there are all high school seniors (the victim pool), who are all gathered by choice to celebrate the time-honored tradition of the “Senior Lock-In” (sort of a slumber party, without a chance of slumber).  

As for the slasher, we get a prologue that sets up the legend of the “Coast-to-Coast Killer,” which could actually be plural, KILLERS, and a long series of bloody serial killings that follow in the wake of their first gruesome murders.   They started in the west and have been meandering there way east over the years.  

You’ll never guess where the “Senior Lock-In” is being held.   Florida.   Which is right in the path of guess who, the Coast-to-Coast Killer!

The big question for genre fans is who will be the final girl?   Will it be Emma (Jessica Lang in here feature film debut … Psyche followed) or her best friend Donna (Sara Eklund), you can pretty much assume that all of the other seniors are going to be victims.  Indeed, the “Senior Lock-In” is a grisly slaughterhouse for the “Coast-to-Coast Killer” with a victim pool that has nowhere to run until dawn!

Last of the Grads on Blu-ray from Bayview Entertainment on June 27 is one of the best indie horror films to arrive on the scene in recent memory.   A gem that genre fans will certainly want to add to their film collections!

Also streeting on June 27 is the DVD fitness workout titled Coffeyfit Raw: Box & Pump 5, which is refreshing to see … it’s a DVD!  

When the pandemic hit, instead of a fitness boom, we saw the fitness-on-DVD marketplace crater.   The population got fat and out of shape instead of following the data on all the unhealthy comorbidities associated with Covid mortality rates.   Workout, reduce the risk!!

A fitness instructor since 1983, Kelly Coffey-Meyer has designed this workout to burn those calories while enhancing muscle tone and building strength in the process.   There’s also a special focus on building stronger abdominal muscles and thinning out that waistline!

Coffeyfit Raw: Box & Pump 5 on DVD from Bayview Entertainment this coming June 27!

 

 

 

 

 

Wild Eye Releasing Looks To July 11 For The DVD Debut Of Hi-Fear

Wild Eye Releasing, with sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has carved-out July 11 as the debut date for the third installment in the “Hi” series of horror anthologies, Hi-Fear.

Hi-8 kicked off the cycle in 2013 and Hi-Death arrived on the scene in 2018.

Teaming up for this four-story creepfest are three-time “Hi” series contributors Brad Sykes (The Pact, Plaguers, Within the Woods), Todd Sheets (Dreaming Purple, Bonehill Road, Ouija Death Trap) and Tim Ritter (Catnado, Sharks of the Corn, Twisted Illusions).

Rounding out the team is Anthony Catanese (Hi-Death alum, plus Girls Just Wanna have Blood, Sonomaniac and the Doc Rotten short series).

The connecting element, or wrap-around, is Brad Sykes’ “What are You Afraid Of?,” which introduces us to comic illustrator Natalie (played by Kristin Lorenz — 8 Days to Hell, The Blood Thins, The Night Seekers) who has the assignment of coming up with the graphics for four horror tales.

In the best tradition of the classic Amicus horror anthologies (The House That Dripped Blood, Tales from the Crypt, Asylum), Todd Sheets delivers the first segment, “Losing It at the Devil’s Whorehouse,” followed by Tim Ritter’s “When Shadows Come Alive” and then comes Anthony Catanese’s “The Streets are Watching”… and then this horror outing is all wrapped up with the final segment from Brad Sykes, “Day Out of Days.”

For genre fans, the Hi-Fear horror anthology on DVD from Wild Eye Releasing will be something worth waiting for … July 11 cannot come soon enough!!

Bonus goodies include two commentary options … one featuring the four filmmakers and the second is an unspecified “producers” commentary.   There is also the featurette titled “'They Came From LA: The Making of Day Out of Days.”

 

 

 

 

 

Battle Kaiju Series O1: Ultraman Vs. Red King On Blu-ray From Mill Creek Entertainment On June 27

Mill Creek Entertainment looks to June 27 for the Blu-ray debut of Battle Kaiju Series 01 - Ultraman vs. Red King.

Working with Tsuburaya Productions Co., Ltd, the rights owner to extensive Ultraman library (over 50 years of programming with in excess of 1,100 series episodes and 20 feature films) Mill Creek Entertainment has come up with a very clever collection of 16 “Red King” episodes culled from the entire Ultraman franchise.

From the early beings of the Skull Monster/Red King — in all of its various form — right up to the 2019’s Ultraman R/B.

Bonus goodies include a live-show presentation of “The Birth of Ultraman.”

 

 

 

 

Arrow Video Announces July 18 4K Ultra HD Release Of Director Martin Scorsese's Hugo

Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, announced this past week that auteur filmmaker Martin Scorsese’s 2011 Best Picture nominee, Hugo, will be available on July 18 as a newly-minted 4K Ultra HD/2 Blu-ray Combo Pack Limited Edition (2D and 3D viewing options are included).

A double-disc Blu-ray edition will also be available on July 18.

Adapted from Brian Selznick's 2007 book, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” the film earned eleven Academy Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay … winning five tech-category Oscars for Cinematography, Art Direction, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects.

Bonus features include commentary by filmmaker and writer Jon Spira (“The Lost Autobiography of Georges Méliès”), five archival featurettes — “Shoot the Moon: The Making of Hugo,” “The Cinemagician: Georges Meliés,” “The Mechanical Man at the Heart of Hugo,” “Big Effects, Small Scale” and “Sacha Baron Cohen: Role of a Lifetime” — plus eight newly-prepared featurettes — “Inventing Hugo Cabret,” “Capturing Dreams,” “The Music of Dreams,” “Ian Christie on Hugo,” “Secret Machines: Hugo and Film Preservation,” “Creating New Worlds,” “Papa Georges Made Movies” and “Melies at the Time of Hugo.”

 

 

 

 

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Finally Sets Release Date For Avatar: The Way Of Water • June 20

The long wait is over.   Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment made it official the news that June 20 will be the street date for a four-SKU helping of director James Cameron’s mega-hit, Avatar: The Way of Water.

The ARR comes in at 186 days, which will cause a “wave” in the charts when the film streets.   Domestic box office receipts currently stand at $684 million.

Planned for release are single DVD and Blu-ray editions, plus a double-disc Blu-ray buying option featuring 2D and 3D presentations of the film and a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack.

As to bonus goodies, there is the “Inside Pandora’s Box” collection of 17 featurettes — “Building the World of Pandora,” “Capturing Pandora,” “The Undersea World of Pandora,” “The Challenges of Pandora's Waters,” “Pandora’s Returning Characters,” “Pandora’s Next Generation,” “Spider's Web,” “Becoming Na’vi,” “The Reef People of Pandora,” “Bringing Pandora to Life,” “The RDA Returns to Pandora,” “The New Characters of Pandora,” “The Sounds of Pandora,” “New Zealand – Pandora’s Home,” “Casting,” “Stunts” and “The Lab.”

And then there is the four-part documentary titled “Capturing Avatar” and what must be another 20 production featurettes … in short, Avatar: The Way of Water is loaded with extras!!

 

 

 

Criterion Announces August 2023 Release Calendar

The Criterion Collection announced its August film restoration calendar this past week.   It’s an eclectic mix of home entertainment packaged media selections.

On the 4K Ultra HD front, Aug. 8 will be the street date for a new 4K film restoration of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s 1990 film release of Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams.  

This is a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack presentation, with the feature film on the 4K disc and the bonus features housed on the companion Blu-ray.

This collection of eight connecting vignettes features commentary by film scholar Stephen Prince, director Nobuhiko Obayashi’s feature-length documentary titled Making of Dreams: A Movie Conversation between Akira Kurosawa and Nobuhiko Ōbayashi, actor/filmmaker Catherine Cadou’s 2011 film, Kurosawa's Way and video sessions with production manager Teruyo Nogami and assistant director Takashi Koizumi. 

Also on the release calendar in August from the Criterion Collection are both DVD and Blu-ray editions of director Wayne Wang’s 1985 film, Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart (Aug. 15), the four-disc/four-film Blu-ray collection titled Bo Widerberg’s New Swedish Cinema (Aug. 22) — which includes The Baby Carriage, Raven's End, Elvira Madigan and Adalen 31 — and the DVD and Blu-ray debut of writer/director Cauleen Smith’s 1998 indie film Drylongso (Aug. 29), which was resurrected and restored by Janus Films and released for the first time theatrically in March of this year.

 

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Has A 4K Ultra HD Edition Of So I Married An Axe Murderer: 30th Anniversary Edition Prepped For Delivery On July 25

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has a new 4K film restoration (from the original 35mm camera negative) of Thomas Schlamme’s 1993 romantic comedy So I Married an Axe Murderer: 30^th Anniversary Edition, starring Mike Myers and Nancy Travis, ready for delivery as a 4K Ultra HD edition on July 25.

The romantic life of Charlie Mackenzie (Myers) has been one disaster after another, including a cat-stealer for a girlfriend.   Has he hit the end of the line with his latest love interest, the “Meats of the World” butcher, Harriet (Travis) … is she the Mrs. X-Honeymoon serial killer and is he next on the list!!

Bonus features include a collection of never-before-seen deleted scenes (some thirty minutes-worth).