Black Sails: The Complete Collection (Blu-ray Review)
Lionsgate is all about getting these full seasons sets of their shows running on Starz out quickly. I recently reviewed the Ash Vs Evil Dead Complete Collection just a little bit back and now we are on to Black Sails. Granted, the last season set to come out for the show was August last year, but they are on it in terms of collecting it. Those holding out for the full series were rewarded this week (Release date was October 16th), when the set came out. Like Ash Vs Evil Dead, this is just a collection of all the discs from the previous single season sets compiled together in some trimmer, space saving, basic packaging. It’ll come with digital copies of the episodes as well. If you’re looking to pick it up, please consider using the Amazon link following the review. Continue reading ‘Black Sails: The Complete Collection (Blu-ray Review)’
Its not hitting any kind of anniversary milestone this year (Or next, for that matter), but City Slickers is jumping over to a brand new Collector’s Edition Blu-ray from Shout! Factory under they Shout Select banner. Return to join Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern and Bruno Kirby as they take a cattle herding vacation with Curly (A role that nabbed Jack Palance his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor). This looks to be pretty much a port of the previous edition with some new artwork (A slip cover) and a new 4K transfer of the film. Fans who order at Shout! Factory’s website from their store will get a free poster of the new art as a toss in with their Blu-ray. Or, if you want, you can help out our site by ordering your City Slickers – Collector’s Edition from the Amazon link below. 
Sure, this came out a few weeks back, but better late than never, right? Besides, I’ve only just received it. So now I can join Gobo, Mokey, Wembley, Boober and Red in celebrating the 35th Anniversary of their beloved series as Sony Pictures Home Entertainment debuted FRAGGLE ROCK: THE COMPLETE SERIES on Blu-ray™ for the first time on September 25th. This extensive set, sprawling over 12 loaded discs containing every episode from both the original series and the animated one, is quite a sight to behold. There is also a lot of bonus material from past and present to sink your teeth into while watching your favorite episodes over and over and over and OVER again. Or, introduce your children to it. Order yourself a copy now by clicking the Amazon link at the end of the review. 
John Constantine has been somewhat of a constant with DC following the success of the Keanu Reeves’ film back in the last decade. He’s had ups and downs but they’ve always kept the character around. Constantine had a short lived live action television series that ran on NBC for one season. Matt Ryan portrayed him there and he’s stuck to the character doing guest appearances on the CW Arrow-verse and being the voice for the animated CW Seed show. Said show is where this brand new DCAU film, City of Demons, comes from. It’ll arrive on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray October 9th, which, well, is this week! Pick it up in time to watch him have a nice solo adventure before he joins up full time with the Legends of Tomorrow for their fourth season! 
Schlocky filmmaking is seriously my cup of tea. That should come as no surprise, considering I host and produce my podcast Cult Cinema Cavalcade. Funny enough, I’ve yet to tackle the filmmaker who is the subject of this documentary even though I have many planned on the docket. Larry Cohen is one of the best of the B-filmmakers of all time. And its great to see that he’s been given a really thoughtful and detailed documentary on his entire career. La-La Land entertainment has put the film out on Blu-ray for home consumption after a nice brief. limited theatrical run last year. You can pick it up now, as it was released on September 25th (Though there doesn’t seem to be an Amazon order link for it at this time). 
We are going to get a big push early next year on Marvel’s first headlining female super hero, but The Wasp gets to jump in first being a lead and having her name in the title. That Marvel downplayed this big step for them to save it for a later one is kind of annoying, but it is what it is. And what it is was a film that was a nice, quirky follow up to the big wallop that was Infinity War. Ant-Man and The Wasp improved upon its predecessor at the box office as well crossing the 200 million mark in the US alone. Its still going worldwide but its grossed over 100 million more than Ant-Man and counting (Top 5 grosser for the summer). Disney and Marvel are bringing it to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on October 16th, so get in there and get your pre-order on to the enjoy this tiny caper! 
Arizona comes to us from the producers of East Bound and Down and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It features an attractive cast and slaps Danny McBride on the cover. I’d not heard anything about the film prior to its home video announcement. And of all things, its getting to make its debut on the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray format which is more than you can say for big studio films that were actually notable box office hits. This hostage dark comedy will come with a “Making of” bonus feature and photo gallery that are actually featured on the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray disc. The movie will be available on all 3 disc formats when it arrives on October 16th. I don’t know whether it’ll be available in stores or not, but it can be purchased via online from Amazon and the like. 
I wasn’t completely sold on Universal’s first Purge film back in 2013, but the acting of Frank Grillo in the second 2014 outing made me an instant fan. The third installment, 2016’s Election Year, was pretty good, but nothing in my opinion can top that “you killed my son” moment in Anarchy. However, I digress. We’re not here to measure sequels, but instead to talk about the all new Purge prequel titled The First Purge. It was officially released everywhere nationwide this year on our Nation’s Birthday, July 4th. This one tells the story of how it all began with the New Founding Fathers of America testing our Nation’s first ever Purge out in one isolated community. I think y’all knows what happens next, but the getting there part is what makes this sociological experiment at least worth a watch.
Bruce Campbell’s Ashley Williams came to a close this year when Starz canceled Ash vs Evil Dead prior to the finale of the show’s third season. Its both unfortunate and fortunate at the same time. Unfortunate obviously that the show was forced to end, but fortunate that it existed. I’d have take just a one episode-length adventure with Bruce as Ash one more time let alone be gifted 30 episodes. Those 30 episodes will now be coming to you from Lionsgate/Starz in a nice collected form on October 16th. Included in this 6-disc set is a digital copy of every episode as well. If you’ve held off on collecting the previously single season sets hoping for this, well, you didn’t have to wait long as the third season is still very fresh on the Blu-ray market. Pick yourself up this series to go with you Evil Dead/Army of Darkness films on your shelf to complete the entire Boom Stick’n adventures of Ash. 
Skyscraper, which we are gathered here to discuss today, is NOT the rousing Demi Lovato song. Instead, Skyscraper is the newest Dwayne Johnson action vehicle, which is now on home media. I mean how much lull can we have without a new Rock movie packing retail shelves? That was of course a very rhetorical question. The answer to that is simply not much at all. The Rock is back and this time he’s playing Die Hard in a very tall building occupied by terrorists with a slight “twist.” He has a twist off lower left leg! Now you cannot say this is the same old kind of movie The Rock is always in or they didn’t give his character a flaw. If nothing else, Skyscraper is the film that puts The Rock at a slight physical disadvantage, but not too much where he can’t make huge, gaping horizontal/vertical leaps or use his artificial stump as an effective prop. There are limits, people. If nothing else, think San Andreas 2.0 with a happier marriage.
The Puppet Master films have been an ongoing series of straight to video B-movie classics going for a few decades now. They’ve been a backbone for Charles Band the THE series in terms of doll-based horror. The Littlest Reich is the latest and the thirteenth film in the series (Or film featuring these Puppets and carrying the moniker). And of all things, they’ve decided to just up and be the best and put it out on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray right out of the gate. That’s a pretty eye-opening and applaud worthy feat here when we can’t even get a major studio to put out a bottom of the barrel True Lies release! This thing comes with a few little bonus features to accompany the film. You’l be able to grab it for yourself on September 25th, so get your pre-order in today! 
In the first quarter of 1998, Titanic ruled the box office. Week in and week out, James Cameron’s film could not be stopped (Until Lost In Space finally overtook it). It was a phenomenon. One of its biggest challengers came in the form of the next movie that had the same star. DiCaprio vs DiCaprio came in the form of The Man In The Iron Mask, a movie whose trailer ran nonstop before Titanic leading up to this. When estimates came out, the films had funny enough tied at the box office, BUT actuals came in and Iron Mask fell short just a couple hundred thousand dollars. Shout! Factory isn’t celebrating Titanic though. The Man In The Iron Mask is getting their attention as it turns 20. They are giving it a new transfer and a few new bonus materials. You’ll want to pre-order it for when it arrives October 9th. 
Hot off covering the entire Universal Classic Monsters canon, here I am back (Not in that period, mind you) with 1985’s The Bride, covering that some area. But, this time its a tale in appreciation of a character that isn’t utilized as much as you’d think, iconic as she has been for the better part of a century (Cinematically speaking). Who better to give this a shot on Blu-ray than Scream Factory. As they head into Hammer territory next year, here’s to hopefully the door opening on them releasing more classic monster-related fare as they continue to excel with the iconic 1980s and the 1990s horror output. This edition comes with some solid interviews and a commentary which should be pleasing enough. It hits Blu-ray on September 25th. 
“See anything, you like?” Michael Myers returns to theaters in next month, but this month, he’s returning to home video in an exciting 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray release from Lionsgate. In a bit of perfect timing, the film turns 40 years old this year and there is no better way to celebrate than giving Michael Myers original trip home the 4K upgrade. John Carpenter’s film will be receiving a visual update, but the audio and bonus features from the previous 35th Anniversary Edition will remain the same. Unfortunately no digital copy is included. However, they’ve set it at a beautiful price point (And even better if you managed to nab it on the day it was $16.99), so that makes it a bit better. On September 25th get ready to watch Michael break out of Smith’s Grove, Laurie carve jack-o-lanterns at the Doyle house and Dr Loomis scare Lonnie Elamb the Myers’ house front lawn. All in glorious 4K Ultra-HD! 
I feel one of the most under appreciated big releases of this fall on Blu-ray is Scream Factory’s US debut of The [REC] Collection. If you’ll…ahem…RECollect, for some reason these four films were only released on DVD here in the United States. Personally, I had the first 3 imported from Canada (Region A) and the fourth film from the UK (Region B locked). But I’m more than excited to upgrade to a very nice, snazzy new packaging that loads up with all the bonus material these films carried along the way. This is a very special film series in both terms of the found footage aesthetic and 21st century horror. The first two films may be tops in terms of that storytelling motif, but they are also amazing films regardless of that. Do yourself a favor and show this set some love when it hits on September 25th. Pre-order a copy today! 
Scream Factory is releasing the mother of all horror films, a timeless classic that made an everlasting impression upon release that shocked audiences around the globe; The Exorcist…II…The Heretic. Yes, that notorious film known as one of the worst sequels (And films) of all time that had audiences literally chasing producers out of a theater they were so appalled, is getting a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray. NOW, for me, this is the PERFECT film to do a big Collector’s Edition for, because maaaan, there have got to be some incredible stories from this production as well as answers to questions regarding the baffling decisions made. With the blunt and honest interviews they get for these, it makes the bonus features worth the purchase alone. So, join together with me, and get your pre-order in to have it ready and waiting for you when it arrives September 25th! 
