The Leopard Man (Blu-ray Review)
Scream Factory is showing no limits this year to the eras with which they are bulking out their library in 2019. Coming July 15th is a the 1943 horror film The Leopard Man. Its a film notable for being the first with which to appropriately or not be afraid to tackle the subject of serial killers (And so ahead of that, the term “serial killer” hadn’t been coined yet). This release boasts a new 4K transfer from the original negative and a brand new commentary to go with a previous one done by director William Friedkin. The Leopard Man looks to be as solid a package as you could put together for a cult film of its age. You can check out the review and/or pre-order yourself a copy by clicking on the Amazon link following the review. Continue reading ‘The Leopard Man (Blu-ray Review)’
Movies about how life can be thrown into a tailspin are always interesting to me. The changes don’t have to be monumental, but when they are you are consistently drawn in to the story more. I went into my viewing of The Professor with a small tinge of doubt right out of the gate. To be honest, I had never heard of the film prior to receiving it, and the title gives little hope you’ll be seeing something promising. 
Pet Sematary kind of freaked me out as a kid, but truth be told I never read the 1983 novel of the same name by Stephen King.
Warner Archive Collection has delivered a nice little surprise this month in the form of 1978’s Corvette Summer. Or for many years as people knew it “That movie Mark Hamill did after Star Wars”. The film didn’t quite strike with audiences that year and had a weird reputation, but I’ll argue that its kinda sorta worth another look. Not that its some forgotten or unappreciated gem from 41 years ago, but moreso that its a perfectly fine film and not this dreadful thing its reputation would have you thinking about it. Plus, Annie Potts rules in this movie and you should check her out at least. The film made its way on June 18th, though it looks like the initial run might be out, so you’ll have to wait on the second wave to order. There is a link you can do something with below, but in the meantime, check out this review or you can hear me discuss the film on the Forgotten Films podcast a few years back by clicking 
Scream Factory like to fashion themselves on housing many John Carpenter films, but they are also looking like a library of iconic actor Tom Atkins (The Fog, Escape From New York, Halloween III: Season of the Witch). And now they are doing Fred Dekker’s Night of the Creeps. This cult classic has been on Blu-ray for a good many years, but is finding an enhancement in joining the coveted Collector’s Edition line from Scream Factory. There’s even an edition you can order that has a TOM ATKINS ACTION FIGURE with it. How awesome is that? They are adding loads of new interviews for extras as well as porting over the ones from the other edition. Its a monster release from a label known for bringing monsters to their finest releases. This one came out on June 25th, so you can order whenever you’re ready and willing to enhance your movie collection with this little slice of alien/zombie-esque action horror comedy.
Well, well, well. More “Universally” welcomed surprises coming from Scream Factory as the year of 2019 continues onward. Its actually incredibly surprising that its taken until 2019 for This Island Earth to find its way onto the high definition format. You’d think it would have at least found its way into some sort of Classic Science Fiction multi-film set if Universal didn’t think it’d do well enough on its own. Crazy enough, it made its way to the format via Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie before getting its own release. Fittingly, Shout! Factory (Under the Scream Factory banner) will be putting the film’s non-riffed and original theatrical version out as well. And they aren’t messing around with it either, its coming with a really rad set of bonus features that’ll have you shouting “Mu-TANT”! This year has seen Universal tackling this unique science fiction horror era between the classic monsters age and the Hammer/API era of horror. This Island Earth can be yours if the price is right, on July 9th.
Scream Factory not only has some fresh new studio catalog titles to tackle with Warner Bros recently, they’ve also been getting some output from Sony. As such, their new release of the 2006 film Silent Hill marks the distributor’s first foray into the video game film genre. The critically reviled box office disappointment did have its fans, making it a little bit of a cult film for which to maybe take another look at and a good candidate for a Scream Factory release. It also is a film whose director is quite popular with some of his other efforts (Brotherhood of the Wolf and his Lea Seydoux starring Beauty and the Beast). Scream Factory is giving this one a pretty solid treatment in the form of a 2-disc set with bonus features provided by Reverend Entertainment. The release will be their to cool down and spook you following your 4th of July firework excitement when it arrives on July 9th. You an pre-order the Blu-ray from Shout! Factory’s website or by using the Amazon link at the end of the review.
Dumbo marks the first of a handful of formerly classic Disney animated features to be having blustering new live action representations in 2019. This has been going on and building for a few years now, but 2019 could be the apex for just how many come out in a calendar year. Disney is probably going to be a bit more careful as to which ones they choose from here on out based on the box office for this film. Not every one of these will hit the Beauty and the Beast paydirt, but you kinda have an idea which ones are going to catch fire (Which, is funny how people doubted Aladdin, not realizing people find too hefty an opinion to have actual weight on “Film Twitter”). Anyway, Dumbo will be arriving on all formats and even the (Why the hell won’t you die?) dated DVD one. The date for this circus full of excitement is June 25th. Don’t all you go trampling over each other to land a copy first. Just go ahead and utilize the Amazon link like a civilized adult.
Jordan Peele is, in my humble opinion, a truly innovative filmmaker. He has made two films that manage to creep us out, make us laugh, challenge our way of thinking and entertain without sacrificing true film art. Us is the type of film that improves with repeat viewings. I myself watched it more than once while preparing this review. I was introduced to more nuances, influences and appreciations and was truly entertained with each viewing. Take a look with some more depth below about Us which hits stores June 18th! 
The Universal Horror Collection: Volume 1 from Scream Factory may have had a name change as well as key art facelift since its original announcement (Then the “Boris Karloff/Bela Lugosi Collection), but the film inside remain the same. In fact, we are probably benefiting from that change as this looks like a series with no limitations now. Exciting are the possibilities and directions it could take. This collection features 4 non-Classic Monster films featuring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff together, complete with some new commentaries and featurettes. For vintage horror nuts like myself, this is a very exciting and big sublicensing deal for Scream Factory. You’ll be able to add it to your shelf on June 18th.
Exactly five years ago (to the day of this film and the other’s release), during my weekly wishlist articles, I made the request that the two 1970s Shaft sequels be released on Blu-ray. And thanks to the new film opening in theaters next week (The third film in the series to be titled merely as Shaft), Warner Archive Collection has scored another win and scratched yet another title from the wishlist. Shaft’s Big Score! and the final film of the original trilogy, Shaft In Africa, made their way to the Blu-ray format on May 21st. For this review, we’ll be focusing on Shaft In Africa, which capped off the character’s run theatrically in the 1970s (There were some forgotten TV movies), with a more genre-embracing tale.
Exactly five years ago (to the day of this film and the other’s release), during my weekly wishlist articles, I made the request that the two 1970s Shaft sequels be released on Blu-ray. And thanks to the new film opening in theaters next week (The third film in the series to be titled merely as Shaft), Warner Archive Collection has scored another win and scratched yet another title from the wishlist. Shaft’s Big Score! and the final film of the original trilogy, Shaft In Africa, made their way to the Blu-ray format on May 21st. For this review, we’ll be focusing on Shaft’s Big Score!, the follow up to the original, breakout (And Academy Award winning) classic!
Marvel continues to soar to billion dollar heights with every fresh turn it takes. Boasted by them as their first female led film (Though, I mean, let’s not forget The Wasp), it was a nice box office set before Avengers: Endgame’s major spike a few months later. In fact, Captain Marvel continued to do solid business alongside Endgame, improving its business. It arrives here on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on June 11th (Already on digital), yet was still playing at my local AMC last weekend when I was at the theater. Our theatrical to home video window has become a very quick and literal 90 days now. So, either go see it again, or order yourself a copy for your home. You currently have that option for one of the biggest movies of the year. 
