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Health & Fitness

DVD / Blu-ray Hit List - July 12, 2011

Animated chameleon's and monsters, haunted children, VHS-era schlock, more women in prison and more make their way home this week!

July is truly becoming like an early Christmas season thanks to the overabundance of incredible DVD and Blu-ray releases.  This Tuesday is no different as a wonderful variety of cult classics, VHS era schlock, more women in prison and top quality animation make their way onto our sky high pile of titles to watch.  Enough of the introductory mumbo jumbo, let’s take a look at what’s hitting store shelves and online retailers this week:

“Rango” (Blu-ray / DVD Combo Pack) - The first animated feature produced by George Lucas‘ Industrial Light & Magic company is finally coming home!  Rango tells the unique story of an ordinary chameleon named Rango (voiced by Johnny Depp) who accidentally stumbles into the town of Dirt, a lonely village in the Wild West in desperate need of a new sheriff.  Isla Fisher, Abigal Breslin, Ned Beatty, Alfred Molina, Bill Nighy, Harry Dean Stanton, Timothy Olyphant and Ray Winston co-star.  Gore Verbinski (the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, The Weather Man) directs from a screenplay by John Logan (The Aviator, Sweeney Todd).  Without a doubt, Rango quickly became my favorite animated film of the year so far thanks to its odd story and incredibly unique visuals.  The Blu-ray / DVD combo pack boasts an incredible variety of special features including, but not limited to, audio commentary from the many makers of the film including Director Gore Verbinski as well as the Animation Director, Visual Effects Supervisor, Production Designer and many more.  In addition, a Breaking the Rules: Animation History featurette, deleted scenes, the theatrical trailer and much more!  Rango dazzled my eyes and opened a new door into my imagination so I couldn’t recommend this film any higher to those who missed it.  2011 still has plenty of quality animation films on the way including Winnie The Pooh and The Adventures of Tintin, but Rango remains the top flick to see!  Rango will be hitting store shelves and online retailers this Friday, July 15th and will also be made available in a DVD edition.

“Battle Beyond the Stars” 30th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) - Shout! Factory adds another highly sought after title into their popular Roger Corman’s Cult Classics label this Tuesday!  Battle Beyond the Stars, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, centers on Shad (Richard Thomas) who must scour different planets in hopes to recruit mercenaries in order to save his peaceful planet from the threat of the evil Sador (John Saxon).  The film co-stars Robert Vaughn, George Peppard and Sybil Danning as well as having extremely talented people behind the camera who would later move on to bigger things such as Director James Cameron (Avatar, The Terminator), Composer James Horner (Titanic), Screenwriter John Sayles (Piranha) and Producer Gale Ann Hurd (Aliens, The Incredible Hulk).  This long out of print classic is coming equipped with a ton of special features including, but not limited to, a brand new anamorphic widescreen transfer restored from the internegative, audio commentary by screenwriter John Sayles and Roger Corman, a new interview with actor Richard Thomas and plenty more!  Chalk up another quality entry for the Roger Corman’s Cult Classics label, I simply can’t get enough of these flicks and I can hardly wait to cut into this one.  Battle Beyond the Stars is also being released in a 30th Anniversary DVD Special Edition as well.

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“Damnation Alley” (Blu-ray) - Shout! Factory comes to the rescue yet again for cult cinema lovers everywhere!  Damnation Alley centers on Earth, now a nuclear holocaust, which has caused it to tilt on its axis bringing meteorological chaos.  Slowly but surely, the weather stabilizes and mutated insects begin preying on the survivors.  A surviving crew headed by Major Eugene Denton (George Peppard) embark on a mission in two armored vehicles to cross a radiation hazard area known as Damnation Alley to join more survivors.  A young Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen, Little Children) co-stars as a wild teenage civilian.  Shout! Factory again provides fans with quality special features including an audio commentary with Producer Paul Maslansky, Survival Run featurette with Co-Screenwriter Alan Sharp discussing his writing process and the challenges of adapting Roger Zelazny’s novel, Road to Hell featurette highlighting the process of creating Damnation Alley, Landmaster Tales featurette focusing on the film’s infamous vehicle as well as a theatrical trailer and TV spot.  I loved George Peppard as Hannibal in The A-Team so I can’t imagine being disappointed with him in a film about nuclear holocaust and epic military vehicles.  For all you non Blu-ray enthusiasts, Damnation Alley will be released in a DVD edition as well.

“God’s Bloody Acre” / “Tomcats” - Code Red DVD proudly presents fans with double the cult classic goodness this week!  God’s Bloody Acre was originally released as a single film edition earlier this year but was quickly pulled due to technical issues with the disc.  Thankfully, Code Red DVD will finally be unveiling the film along with an added bonus gem.  God’s Bloody Acre centers on three mountain-men brothers living in an uninhabited forest area until a construction crew show up to clear the way for a park.  The brothers are none to happy with the news and are prepared to kill to defend their lifestyle.  Tomcats deals with four thugs who rape and murder a young waitress as part of their spree of madness.  They are eventually arrested but get away thanks to a legal technicality.  Unfortunately for them, the brother of one of their rape/murder victims becomes a vigilante in order deliver justice to those who harmed his sister.  Code Red DVD certainly made the wait for God’s Bloody Acre worth it and for all the fans‘ trouble we get a bonus flick that is certainly sure to wet any cult fans appetite!

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“Mad Mad Mad Monsters” - Who says July is too early to stock up on some Halloween viewing for the kiddies?  Mad Mad Mad Monsters is the animated spin-off film from the 1967 cult classic Mad Monster Party which featured the voice talent of Boris Karloff.  It originally aired during ABC’s Saturday Superstar Movie Series, unlike it’s stop-motion predecessor, Mad Mad Mad Monsters was presented using cel-animation.  Having fallen into almost complete obscurity, this DVD release is a welcome one since a large cult following has formed for the title over the years.  If you’re a fan of the original Mad Monster Party then Mad Mad Mad Monsters should be a no brainer.  I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing this program due to its lack of release but all that’s changed now and I can’t wait to boogie with some monsters again!

“Chained Heat” / “Red Heat” / “Jungle Warriors” (Women in Prison Triple Pack) - Mr. Skin and Panik House Entertainment proudly present an unholy trio of women behind bars!  Chained Heat, widely regarded as the greatest women in prison film of all time, finally comes uncut and re-mastered to DVD!  Linda Blair (The Exorcist) stars as a woman sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after accidentally killing a man.  A perverted warden (John Vernon) and two rival gangs fighting a race war make Carol’s struggle to survive extra tough and sleazy.  Red Heat, presented in anamorphic widescreen, sees Linda Blair playing a wrongly accused American tourist sentenced to three years in a brutal East Germany penitentiary.  Finally, Jungle Warriors, also presented in anamorphic widescreen, centers on a group of models as they fly to South America to scout locations for a photo session.  Unfortunately, their plane is shot down and they quickly become prisoners under a demented drug lord.  In order to escape, the girls must grab some firepower of their own and blast their way to freedom.  Special features include introductions for each film by Mr. Skin himself, video interviews with Actresses Stella Stevens (Chained Heat) and Sybil Danning (Chained Heat, Jungle Warriors) as well as theatrical trailers.  Cult fans have been dying to own proper editions of these films and the wait is finally over but it won’t last.  The Women in Prison Triple Pack is being made available for a limited time only so if you have been longing for these films in your collection, don’t hesitate to pick them up!

“Insidious” (Blu-ray) - One of the best horror films of the year finally makes its way home!  Insidious tells the story of a family who looks to prevent evil spirits from trapping their comatose child in a realm called The Further.  Patrick Wilson (Watchmen), Rose Byrne (Bridesmaids), Barbara Hershey (Black Swan), Lin Shaye (Dumb & Dumber) and Leigh Whannell (Saw) star.  I absolutely loved this flick when I caught it back in April, it has everything going for it from a capable cast to a chilling story with plenty of jump scares to boot.  If you’re thinking of dismissing this film based solely on its PG-13 rating, then I suggest you think again.  PG-13 horror can be done effectively and even surpass an R rated horror film if all the elements align.  Insidious, as well as 2009’s Drag Me to Hell accomplished this feat and gave any R-rated gorefest a run for its money.  Director James Wan, responsible for the original Saw and Death Sentence, established a disturbing tone in this film that didn’t rely on buckets of blood but in fact what you don’t see.  Insidious is a film that creeps into your subconscious much like Poltergeist did and packs enough creeps to be compared in the same sentence as such a classic.  Special features include Horror 101: The Exclusive Seminar featurette, On Set with Insidious featurette, Insidious Entities featurette which takes a look at the creation of the film’s nonhuman characters as well as previews for additional Sony titles.  Insidious will also be made available in a DVD version as well.

“Things” - Intervision proudly presents the first Canadian shot-on-Super 8 gore flick commercially released on a VHS way back in 1989.  Things remains a very bizarre and hard to categorize Canuxploitaion flick even by today’s standards.  The film tells the surreal story of two friends who visit a cabin only to discover a womb of horror that calls for dismemberment.  Plenty will be grossed out, others will be left scratching their heads but Things promises to be something you have never seen before.  Special features include, but not limited to, audio commentary with the makers of the film, Things 20th Anniversary cast and crew reunion, all-new interviews with Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and much more!  I have to say it is a real treat to see horror films that were practically made with people’s personal video cameras in the 80’s make their way to DVD.  Whoever would have guessed that these attempts at moviemaking would be so cherished by devoted fans decades later?  That said, I can’t wait to cut into Things!

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