The Wicker Man: 50th Anniversary – Best Buy Exclusive Steelbook (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
October 26th, 2023 by Brandon Peters
Like many a Studio Canal title on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray, Lionsgate has released their version of the folk horror legend, The Wicker Man, in the United States. Hitting shelves at Best Buy on October 17th, it comes in collectible steelbook packaging. In addition to the new restoration, the release features a nice slew of new featurettes/interviews and presents the film with an LPCM track instead of DTS-HD MA which had been on the standard Blu-ray. This isn’t an identical port from the UK version as its missing some bonus features and only contains The Final Cut version of the movie.
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You can now own the year’s biggest film both financially and pop culturally – Barbie! Greta Gerwig’s film took the summer by storm and became Warner Bros biggest movie of all time. It arrives on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray with a handful of featurettes and a Dolby Atmos track. They released it on the format on October 17th. You can order one (if you haven’t already) to own this piece of history by using the paid Amazon Associate link that follows at the bottom of this page.
For October this year, Scream Factory is unleashing its inner demons. The night of said demons to be specific. And three nights at that. Its cult staple Night of the Demons and its sequels. The original will be making its debut on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray and includes some new interviews, as the sequel is making its second Blu-ray appearance with a new transfer and extras and Night of the Demons 3 debuts to the format. There’s a load of excitement to be had with these as they are not only loved themselves, but will be getting some top notch love on the format. Released on October 3rd, you can order them now using links in these reviews. In this review, we’ll be looking at the Brian Trenchard-Smith directed sequel, Night of the Demons 2!
Transformers continue to roll out in theaters, the latest being the 90s set, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. While not generating huge numbers like they used to, Rise of the Beasts still easily crossed the $400 million line and proved to be more successful than some more highly anticipated and well respected franchise efforts last summer. You can now own it, which Paramount released on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on October 10th. It comes with an Atmos track and a smattering of featurettes. It also comes in a collectible steelbook edition, which is the copy sent here for review. You can order one for yourself by using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows at the end of the review.
Just a few years ago, Disney saw some success with the ride movie, Jungle Cruise. It wasn’t the phenomenon that was the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, but its led us to them taking another stab at their staple attraction, Haunted Mansion. This one was another notable underwhelming box office performer this summer, and another notch on a rather financially disappointing one for them as a whole. While it feels like it should have been fall release during spooky season, it now becomes that as a home video release. The 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray for it was dropped on October 17th and comes equipped with an Atmos track and handful of featurettes. You can order yourself one from the paid Amazon Associates link below.
While Barbie and Oppenheimer were dominating the box office and the headlines in the late summer, there was another film making waves and profits on a smaller scale; the Australian fright fest that is Talk To Me. The film was an ultra low budget import that became one of A24’s most successful. Released on October 3rd, it arrived on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray with a Dolby Atmos track and a handful of extras. There is an Amazon Exclusive edition which has a special lenticular slipcover and another disc with a recording of a Q&A on it. You can order that version by using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review.
Perhaps the most important film in the history of the studio, Disney’s first feature length film animation, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is finally making its way to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray. Armed with a brand new transfer, this one was released on October 10th. Packaged with it is the Signature Edition Blu-ray which carries all of the previous extras that were on that release. You can order yourself a copy of this classic, which should be in any film lover and collector’s library, by using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review at the bottom of the page.
One of the last efforts of Summer 2023 at the movies was a horror film that had been waiting in the wings for a good many years before being made and then releasing to theaters. The Last Voyage Of The Demeter released to some positive reviews, but then wound up being a hot target for a couple weeks in terms of its underwhelming box office and people wondering why it went theatrical. Now it arrives to Blu-ray (No 4K as of yet – frown). Surprisingly enough, its coming in a Collector’s Edition with plenty of bonus material on it. Released on October 17th, you can order yourself a copy from the paid Amazon Associates link at the bottom of the review.
Shout! Factory has collected many of the film and television works of the king of the disaster film, Irwin Allen, for a 7-disc box set. A load of mini-series, tv movies and feature films are hitting Blu-ray for the first time in this Irwin Allen: Master Of Disaster Collection box set. See notable stars like Michael Caine, Paul Newman or Sally Field do their best to save a town from a preventable nature disaster or escape a sinking ship. The films all come with new 2K scans from interpositives (1 film has a 2K scan from an original negative) and a few of them have alternate cuts, additional scenes and promotional materials as extras. This set was released on September 12th and you can order yourself a copy from the paid Amazon Associates link below.
For October this year, Scream Factory is unleashing its inner demons. The night of said demons to be specific. And three nights at that. Its cult staple Night of the Demons and its sequels. The original will be making its debut on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray and includes some new interviews, as the sequel is making its second Blu-ray appearance with a new transfer and extras and Night of the Demons 3 debuts to the format. There’s a load of excitement to be had with these as they are not only loved themselves, but will be getting some top notch love on the format. Released on October 3rd, you can order them now using links in these reviews. This first review will cover the original classic, now in 2160p!
When Prey unleashed last year, many were bummed it wasn’t given a theatrical shake. And many were crossing their fingers it would see a disc release sometime in the near future. Well, the latter has happened. As the 20th Century Studios side of the Disney tree is putting the latest Predator movie out on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on October 3rd. Coming with a nice little platter of bonus features, including a commentary, and a Dolby Atmos track, its not just a quick skimp to the format. You can order yourself a copy to own by using the paid Amazon Associates link following the review.
A24 scored big at the Oscars last year, and I feel like they have a nice sleeper here in this year’s Past Lives. Maybe not dominating the awards like last year, but having a pretty solid presence. After a short theatrical and digital run, its now come to the disc land for us collecting enthusiasts. Releasing on September 19th, it opted for standard Blu-ray (boo, no 4K!) and included a featurette, deleted scenes and a commentary with its writer/director and stars. You can order yourself a copy now to check out one of the year’s finest offerings by clicking on the paid Amazon Associates link at the bottom of the page.
Pixar has been on a bit of a rocky road for Disney. Relegating many of their A-tier releases to Disney+ exclusives and taking away a bit of the importance from the brand, the release of Lightyear last summer had many questioning if they could bounce back. And at first, Elemental looked doomed, but slowly and surely it legged out into one of the best holds of the summer. Now, you can own the film on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray with Atmos sound and extras to “hold” in your own hands. There are some different variants of this release, but this review takes a look at the Best Buy limited edition steelbook. 
Disney and their live action remakes have landed upon one of its most important and pivotal titles in the animated history – The Little Mermaid. The live action redo from Rob Marshall made itself some monies this summer, but ultimately underwhelmed and wasn’t the smash they’d been hoping for. The film arrives on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray with Atmos sound and a handful of featurettes. Released on September 19th, there were many store exclusive editions to choose from. This particular reviewer was given the Best Buy limited edition steelbook to cover for this review.
Loki: The Complete First Season coming to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray isn’t just cool because I’d like to own this show I like on the best format available, its more than that. Loki’s debut marks a breakthrough in the programming made specifically for the streaming service Disney+ to be available on a physical, collectible format. It will be followed next month by WandaVision and then the first two Mandalorian seasons in December. For a while it was uncertain what was going on and if these were always going to be beholden to the streamer as an exclusive. Loki: The Complete First Season became available for purchase on September 26th. You can order yourself a copy by using the paid Amazon Associates link following the review. 
Scream Factory brings us an encore of their Child’s Play 4K debuts last summer with the remainder of the Chucky series now hitting 4K for the first time. Bride of Chucky, Seed of Chucky, Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky will feature some fresh new restorations and transfers to go along with some nifty new bonus features to round this whole thing out. They will all come out on August 29th and can be pre-ordered using the paid Amazon Associates links that will be on all of these reviews at the bottom of the page. This review concludes these releases with the most recent film that leads into the TV series, Cult of Chucky.
Scream Factory brings us an encore of their Child’s Play 4K debuts last summer with the remainder of the Chucky series now hitting 4K for the first time. Bride of Chucky, Seed of Chucky, Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky will feature some fresh new restorations and transfers to go along with some nifty new bonus features to round this whole thing out. They will all come out on August 29th and can be pre-ordered using the paid Amazon Associates links that will be on all of these reviews at the bottom of the page. This review looks at the incredible comeback feature of our little friend to the end, the surprising and thrilling Curse of Chucky.
Scream Factory brings us an encore of their Child’s Play 4K debuts last summer with the remainder of the Chucky series now hitting 4K for the first time. Bride of Chucky, Seed of Chucky, Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky will feature some fresh new restorations and transfers to go along with some nifty new bonus features to round this whole thing out. They will all come out on August 29th and can be pre-ordered using the paid Amazon Associates links that will be on all of these reviews at the bottom of the page. This particular review, we’ll be taking a look at my least favorite entry in the series (and of most horror series in general), Seed of Chucky.
