Batman: Hush (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
I kind of ruined the surprise for myself, but when the motion picture release of Batman: Hush was announced I did the unthinkable. I grabbed the digital version of the comic book series this storyline appears within and dived in headfirst. It was a compelling storyline, which I found difficult at times to put down (as I read through it in chunks). I’m not going to lie. What really drew me in though was seeing Batman’s famous rouge of Gotham enemies all being controlled by a masked man behind the scenes like puppets. It dives into Bruce Wayne’s personal life a bit and explores the complications in his relationship with the seductive Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman. However, I am getting a bit ahead of myself here in this first paragraph. I apologize as I get a bit excited and giddy when talking about the world of Batman and the rich characters surrounding him. So without further ado I bestow upon you my review of Batman: Hush, which makes it 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray debut tomorrow, August 6th. Continue reading ‘Batman: Hush (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu was the first potentially “real” challenger to Avengers: Endgame’s box office championship belt, but fell just under 9 million shy of taking it. As Avengers was the fourth film with that moniker, so was Detective Pikachu the fourth Warner Bros produced Pokemon movie (Though not in any continuity as the first 3 were animated from the later 90s/early 00s). There was potential for this movie to be a big hit, vying for a potentially mega popular franchise plus potential nostalgia. Though it wasn’t some juggernaut, the film did do some respectable global box office and came just shy of recouping its budget within the domestic US wide release on its own. Potentially the budget was a bit too much but I’m sure Warner had their eyes more on the global prize that just what it would do at home. The film is not heading its way to home video on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD on August 6th where you can pick it up in stores or use the Amazon link below.
Alita: Battle Angel was always going to be an interesting film to me. The trailer alone made me want to see it immediately. The story seemed to go just a little bit deeper than your average sci-fi action thrill ride and the scenes shown were stunners meant to draw you in. As you know, a trailer can be the taste film fans need to make them go see a film, or it can be all the best scenes thrown into a short spot to make people think the film will be good. Either way, people who make trailers are geniuses of marketing… The people who made the Alita trailer should then be totally praised. They not only didn’t give away much of the movie, they gave just enough to make you want more. The film is a sprawling visually stunning near masterpiece of the genre. I can’t wait for you to see my thoughts on Alita: Battle Angel below! It just may be as effective as a trailer! As an added treat, my esteemed colleague 
Vice Squad has been on the Blu-ray wish list of many cult/exploitation collectors for some time now. The B-movie-like film was one that brought a sort of more seedy underground word of big city prostitution and sexual crimes to a more widespread mainstream release (It debuted at #4 at the box office back in 1982). Scream Factory (Of course) is the distribution label coming through to delight the fans and bring it to the Blu-ray format for the first time. And not just getting it to the format and calling it a day, they have slapped it with the Collector’s Edition label and put Reverend Entertainment on the job for the extras (Which always means rich, lengthy interviews!). This stacked release will be available to purchase on August 13th, but you can also pre-order the film from Shout! Factory’s website or our own Amazon link following the review. 
Jim Morrison is the epitome of a rock star. Someone with a mythic personality, innate sexuality, and a talent that was absolutely unique. He also had his demons, struggling with the usual rock star addictions. In the film The Doors we are shown the quick rise of Jim and his band. Oliver Stone has his stamp all over this delirious ride through the life of one of the most iconic bands of the 60’s and beyond. Check it out in fine detail below and look out for The Doors in a stunning 4K transfer in stores Tuesday, July 23rd!
Hellboy’s return to cinema was something of a conflicted affair. The decision to forego the beloved del Toro/Pearlman films and restart fresh was a ballsy one. But, there seemed to be some excitement from earlier photos and the casting of a popular actor in David Harbour. That enthusiasm did not translate into good review or many box office receipts however and led to stories breaking on what a messy, tough affair the film was behind the scenes. Despite that, there’s a feature length documentary on the new 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray for the film, which makes its way home to the format on July 23rd. Stunningly enough, it will be available at no extra charge for Amazon Prime members to see that same day. So, I supposed you can check it out before diving into your pockets to grab it.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, caught in between the mega popular Star Trek: The Next Generation and the more traditionally plotted Star Trek: Voyager, was typically overlooked during its time on the air or unappreciated. However, it was a show that was a gamechanger for the television landscape and today’s highly normal serialized storytelling. With no fully remastered and restored Blu-ray sets like The Next Generation likely ever coming fruition, we are instead treated to What We Left Behind; a documentary chronicling the series and its legacy with all the important people brought back to tell the story (Well, except Avery Brooks). Shout! Factory will be releasing this exciting event on Blu-ray on August 6th. This briefly had an event night in theaters, so if you missed out on it, this new Blu-ray is your chance. Plus it is truly loaded with more material beyond the documentary, so you’ll really want to check it out.
Last month it was Ivan Ooze, now Shout! Factory is moving onward with the Power Rangers movies with TURBO. Personally, I can’t say I’m familiar with this one as the whole thing had passed me by and I was probably “too cool” for it when Turbo released in 1997. I recently spoke with Steve Cardenas about the films and VERY positive about the first Power Ranger movie and pretty mum about Turbo here. So we shall see. Anyway, this is the first time for the film to be on the Blu-ray format (Was not included in the big set from last year) and it looks to also contain some nice supplemental fun here as well. You’ll be able to add it to your collection of Zords, Discs and more when it arrives on Blu-ray from Shout! Factory on July 30th.
Releasing alongside Lust For A Vampire this month, Scream Factory also will be dipping into Hammer Horror’s The Reptile. It makes its American debut and brings with it a few new bonus features while keeping true to what has been on the Blu-rays so far with the archival bonus features getting ported over. That seems to be par for the course with the Hammer Horror films from Scream Factory. I’ve never seen The Reptile, but with it including a Doctor Who actor in Jacqueline Pearce in the cast (Sure, “just” The Two Doctors serial but she’s done Big Finish stuff as well), I’m all too eager to check this one out now. You’ll be able to check it out too when it arrives on July 30th. To land yourself a copy of The Reptile, you can pre-order the Blu-ray by going to Shout! Factory’s website, or you can simply scroll down to the Amazon link that follows the whole review and click on that (And help our little site a hair in the process).
Scream Factory’s devotion to Hammer Horror continues in 2019 (Wait until you see the Hammer stuff coming in September) with a title unreleased on Blu-ray so far (And has a bit of demand) with Lust For A Vampire. The second film in the noted Karnstein trilogy, it will be making its debut here with some fresh new bonus materials and a 4K scan from the original negative. While reviled by many (Even those who worked on the film), Lust For A Vampire has a pretty solid cult following and really fits the bill to be a Scream Factory release (In the UK, it is being released a few weeks after this one by Studio Canal). Lust For A Vampire releases on July 30th (Same day as The Reptile) and is available for pre-order by going to the Shout! Factory website or by clicking on the Amazon link that follows the review.
I remember seeing the first production stills of Shazam! online and thinking how awful/embarrassing our hero’s inflated muscle outfit looked. Surely this was a joke and they were keeping his real superhero suit under wraps or inserting it digitally later in post. Wrong! Then something happened and I was like whoa this actually looks not only legit, but fun and hysterical as well. That moment I speak of was when the film’s first theatrical trailer dropped. Not only was the inflated muscle bound costume the real thing, but for the first time since I saw those stills I breathed a somewhat sigh of relief. This feature looked like a blast on the cover. Couple that with the initial wave of early reviews that were not only favorable, but claiming this was one of the best DCEU movies yet and you had my attention dripping whet with anticipation. So here we are! It’s Shazam! on 4K time!
Hey, the Critters are back! All right! Well, they came back already this year with Shudder’s Critters: The First Binge back in March. But now we are getting a sequel to the original film series with Critters Attack! This one also boasts the return of Dee Wallace to the series for the first time since the original film. Warner Bros will be putting the movie out on Blu-ray on July 23rd, but this is in anticipation of some big SyFy Channel premiere of the film later this year or something or other is what I gather. If you want to have it next to your Scream Factory box set and actually own the thing (AND see it before its TV debut), then you go right ahead, scroll down, and click on the Amazon link where you can secure yourself a copy of this return to the little hedgehog-ish, ball rollings, human eating furrballs known as the Critters.
Shout! Factory is launching a glorious collector set of the cult science fiction program, starring Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, Space 1999 on July 16th. This elaborate set includes every episode, the first time in America for the second season, as well as plenty of new bonus material. If you act fast, on Shout! Factory’s website, the first 500 orders will come with a collectible Space 1999 snow globe. You want that, you know you do. But, as of writing this, it may be too late. Personally, I’d always meant to check this show out and this Blu-ray set seemed the most appropriate way to start my journey. You can start yours, revisit or decorate your movie collection with this fine release by ordering from Shout! Factory or the Amazon link following the review.
In 1995, Waterworld was more infamous for its controversies and budget than it was for being a fantastic movie. Critics ripped the picture to shreds, and audiences were divided as well. Some people wondered where the money had gone. Others wondered why the performances weren’t the greatest. It should be said that sometimes time can be kinder to a movie on occasion. Upon revisiting Waterworld, I can confidently say this is one of those times. Check out the in-depth perspective on Waterworld on 4K Blu-ray, which hit stores on 7/9! 
Scream Factory named their last Universal Horror Collection “Volume 1” and they are coming through with more within just a month with “Volume 2”. The first set was originally a Karloff and Lugosi collection, renamed for one reason or another (And with this label, you can put much more content out under the Universal Horror banner). This one doesn’t have the distinction of those two actors, but it isn’t without merit or a common thread among the films. On one hand Volume 2 is a bit of a Mad Doctor/Scientist collection of films, but within 3 of those a common actor is among them. This could be somewhat of a Lionel Atwill set (A new mini doc is even devoted to him) as he stars in 3 films in this set and is as common a fixture in the Universal Classic Monster films as his colleagues Karloff and Lugosi. This new 4-disc set will be available at the end of the month on July 23rd and can be pre-ordered from the Shout! Factory website or the bottom of this review via the Amazon link.
