Phantasm III: Lord Of The Dead (Blu-ray Review)
In 2017 (Kinda the end of 2016, but hear me out), one of my BIGGEST bucket list items for Blu-ray finally was checked off; the entire Phantasm series arrived on Blu-ray. The iconic Tall Man’s entire chronicles of antagonizing the ice cream man Reggie and his friend Mike arrived in glorious restored 1080p glory. The first film features an outstanding restoration from JJ Abrams and company during the post production of The Force Awakens. Last year, everything was only available via limited edition boxed sets from Arrow and Well Go USA. Now, Well Go USA is finally giving Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead and Phantasm IV: Oblivion standalone releases. So, for those of you who missed out on the now out of print set, you can snag yourself the only two entries not available by themselves on September 18th. This review will cover the third film, Lord of the Dead, that featured the return of A. Michael Baldwin to the series to reclaim his role of “Mike”(He was replaced by James LeGros in the previous installment). Continue reading ‘Phantasm III: Lord Of The Dead (Blu-ray Review)’
Home video geek here. This Scream Factory release on Blu-ray for the first time completes the 4 quadrant upgrade for a 4-movie DVD collection I’ve had on my shelf for years. You might own it too, the 4-Movie Horror Unleashed Collection. Accompanying The Seventh Sign on it were the original Fright Night, John Carpenter’s Christine and the Chuck Russell remake of The Blob. Awesome set, right? Now all of them have made the jump to Blu-ray with the Demi Moore thriller finally completing it. Scream Factory has done a number on this one, with a load of interviews sitting on the disc for you to peel through. You can pre-order the film to have by its release date of September 11th by using the Amazon link that follows the review (And also, thank you!). 
Paravmount is really on the ball and getting some of their most well known franchises out and onto the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray format in full. Transformers, Tomb Raider, Mission: Impossible and now the Jack Ryan films (Can I get the rest of Star Trek next?). With the highly anticipated Amazon series slated to begin at the end of the month, now’s as good a time as any to revisit the political thriller series based around Tom Clancy’s most well known character. From 1990’s The Hunt for Red October to the most recent reboot attempt with Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, the films are all accounted for and getting the boost into 4K Ultra-HD video (Sorry folks, no audio or bonus upgrades here). Head on down to the bottom of this review to pre-order and add to your collection. 
Things finally came to a close for Ash Williams and his forever quest again those pesky, gross deadites. Starz canceled Ash Vs Evil Dead after three seasons and star Bruce Campbell officially retired from playing the role. For me, this was the only thing I would subscribe to Starz for or even had my interest. Starz will once again be bringing the entire season for the show onto Blu-ray with a kickin’ picture and boomstick worthy sound. Commentary tracks compliment every episode, as graced by Evil Dead founding father and executive producer Robert Tapert. Make sure you complete your collection by ordering a copy (Complete with a digital copy of every episode accompanying the release) of the release to go with the previous two seasons and your Evil Dead trilogy. 
Deadpool 2 should be a happy review for me considering the very first 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray I bought back in 2016 way before I even had a set up was the first Deadpool movie.
This fall, everyone’s favorite DC speedster will return for his fifth lap of his television marathon on the CW. While its been dubbed the “Arrow-verse”, The Flash has been the most popular series of all the DC shows (And the whole network) since its debut season in 2014. He and his team at Star Labs have brought forth and introduced some of the more complex concepts in the whole of the show universe, like meta-humans, time travel and multiverses that have allowed to open up the network to exploring crazier beings and concepts giving us Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl and at the same time, allowing Arrow to find new villains and supernatural challenges. You can relive or catch up on the fourth season with this Blu-ray set when it arrives August 28th! 
On August 21st, Scream Factory will once again re-enter the world of one of cinema’s greatest showmen; William Castle. Two releases are on the way, one of those being the Joan Crawford led Strait-Jacket. Oddly enough, on the same day, Mill Creek is also releasing this title as a double feature with the film Berserk. Yes, that one is much cheaper, but as a reminder, you’re getting what you pay for. Look no further than Criterion’s Night of the Living Dead and Mill Creeks for an easy example. Scream Factory’s will be coming with a pretty substantial amount of bonus materials new and old. Be sure to keep your William Castle collection going with this release and pre-order from the Amazon link below to ensure you have one come release day! 
On August 21st, Scream Factory will once again re-enter the world of one of cinema’s greatest showmen; William Castle. Two releases are on the way, one of them being the classic buzzing experience of The Tingler. With The Tingler, Scream Factory has notched themselves another Vincent Price film for their canon. You’ll remember they did three lovely collections of his works, which probably won’t be seeing a fourth for the forseeable future. But, this is Price AND Castle, which is exciting. It features some terrific features, both new for this release and classic ones to boot. You’ll want to get this pre-order in so you can experience this old schlocky thriller on day 1, by using the Amazon pre-order link below (And thanks as always when you do). 
We’re getting a brand new Predator film in September. We have a new 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray home video format. Makes too much sense, right? And Fox knows that. Originally, it was thought just the original was coming, but smartly, we’re getting the three Predator outings without a Xenomorph. This is a big deal for the videophile crowd as the transfer for Predator that has been used in the last few releases is one of massive controversy and has been the poster child for DNR abuse and doing too much in restoration for Blu-ray. The big question is if Fox took notes and how they’d approach it now. This is one of the coolest 4K Ultra-HD collections coming this year, so scroll on down after the review and order yourself a copy on Amazon to retire your old release(s). 
Brainscan feels perfectly at home as a part of Shout! Factory’s Scream Factory line. This 1990s film definitely can find itself in the “cult” status as the movie barely made itself known (Or even people aware) at the box office (Debuted at #10, didn’t even make $4.5 million) and likely found its life via premium cable movies channels and video rental stores. This was during the period where they were trying to make Edward Furlong a “thing”, only to find that unless its Terminator 2: Judgement Day, people weren’t going to show up. This film will be getting the love nobody probably ever expected it to deserve, with a load of brand new bonus features/interviews on this cool Blu-ray set. You can pre-order it from the Amazon link below to have it when it arrives on August 28th! 
Return of the Living Dead: Part II isn’t the only James Karen film that Scream Factory will be releasing on August 11th. Rodman Flender’s 1991 film, The Unborn starring Brooke Adams, will also be making its Blu-ray debut. This pregnancy, demon baby horror film produced by Roger Corman is in no way related to the 2009 film of the same title. This one actually wound up with a sequel as well. The release will feature a new 2K scan of the original film elements and a commentary from director Rodman Flender to boot. Hail as “More frightening than Rosemary’s Baby”, this is one you may want to revisit or add to your growing collection. You can ensure you have a copy by August 14, by pre-ordering from the Amazon link following the review. 
Back when I did Brandon’s Blu-ray Wishlist as a somewhat weekly piece instead of annual, Return of the Living Dead: Part II made my list for its own article. It was a pipe dream then, as it belonged to Warner Bros, who wasn’t licensing out or doing much with schlocky B-horror titles at all. And likely, we wouldn’t have it with the appropriate soundtrack/score in play (Their DVD replaced it with new music, which is available as an “Alternate Audio Track”). I received a lot of flack for “wishing” it, because, well its not that great a movie, but its part of the Return series and for some damn reason, I do return to it every now and then. I dunno, classic bad zombie movies can still be fun (Hello, Nightmare City). Wish granted, haters. And who better to put this out than Scream Factory, rubbing it in your face with a boatload of new features and restoring the original music. Go ahead, try not to pick it up on October 14th. Well, maybe you won’t, but I’m in! 
Maybe you’ve heard of this movie? Haha. What kind of introduction does Avengers: Infinity War need not require? The film is the biggest movie of the summer and probably the most talked about and referenced one as well. And with good purpose, this is not only a big movie, but its a pretty sizeable event too. And its only half the story to boot! Disney is bringing it to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on August 14th to help you cope or relive your grieving at home. The film will feature a commentary track as well as some featurettes, deleted scenes and the as usual worthless gag reel. There are also many special versions like steelbooks and the like available at other retailers, but if you don’t care to mess with all that and just want the bread and butter, then pre-order from our Amazon link below. 
The flagship of the DCTV universe on the CW network, Arrow (Which, well, its deemed the “Arrowverse” for that reason), will be heading into its seventh season this coming fall. Oliver Queen have gone from being hip and dark, too cool to call the vigilante what he is to fully embracing the Green Arrow. Its been a ride and still has held itself strong while the universe surrounding it has introduced meta humans, time travel, aliens and more. As always, the previous season arrives on Blu-ray, giving you ample time to catch up before the next season (If you decided not to catch up using Netflix first). It will come with the usual set of bonus materials to accompany it. You can pick yourself up a copy on or pre-order one for the release date August 14th. 
