THE CURSE OF AUDREY EARNSHAW (2020) Available NOW on all major VOD + Digital platforms & Blu-ray!

THE CURSE OF AUDREY EARNSHAW (2020) 

Label: Epic Pictures

Region Code: Region-FREE

Rating: Unrated

Duration: 94 Minutes 

Audio: English 2.0 and 5.1 with Optional English & Spanish Subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen 

Director: Thomas Robert Lee

Cast: Catherine Walker, Jared Abrahamson, Hannah Emily Anderson, Geraldine O’Rawe, Don McKellar, Sean McGinley, Jessica Reynolds 

Set against the autumnal palette of harvest season in 1973, The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw explores the disturbed bond between Audrey, an enigmatic young woman, and Agatha, her domineering ‘mother’, who live secretly as occultists on the outskirts of a remote Protestant village. As the community is besieged by a pestilence of unknown origin: children, fields, and livestock begin to die — yet the Earnshaw farm remains strangely unaffected. As mass hysteria sets in the village, the townsfolk commence accusations against Audrey and Agatha of witchcraft.

Capturing a perfect mixture of religious paranoia and folklore horror, Thomas Robert Lee’s The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw is a haunting and unflinching tale of vengeance.

The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw celebrated its world premiere at Fantasia Fest 2020, coming out with raving reviews. The film will be releasing in limited theaters on Friday, October 2nd, 2020 and will be available on major VOD/Digital platforms beginning Tuesday, October 6th, 2020. 

Special Features: 

- Behind the Scenes Featurette

- Audio Commentary 

- Theatrical Trailer (2 min) 

- Epic Pictures Trailers

"I wanted to tell a story about legacy, and to specifically explore it within the context of a folk horror narrative,” says writer/director Thomas Robert Lee. “The community grows increasingly desperate as their given circumstances grow dire. In reality, the pandemic appears to have amplified hatred and xenophobia, or at least the voices of those spewing hate speech. Obviously there is a world of difference between my screenplay and the very real ramifications of the pandemic, but the similarities, however surface-level they may be, have certainly been on my mind these past months.”

Facebook: facebook.com/TheCurseOfAudreyEarnshaw

Twitter: twitter.com/Audrey_Earnshaw

Instagram: instagram.com/TheCurseOfAudreyEarnshaw

The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw is written and directed by Thomas Robert Lee. Produced by Gianna Isabella and executive produced by Lee, Marie-Claude Poulin, James Mahoney, Bill Marks, Divya Shahani, George Mihalka, Susan Curran, Patrick Ewald, and Shaked Berenson. Cinematography by Nick Thomas. Edited by Ben Lee Allen. Music by Thilo Schaller and Bryan Buss. A Gate 67 Films Production. 

RETRO-REVIEW: WITHOUT WARNING (1980) (Scream Factory Blu-ray Review)

WITHOUT WARNING (1980)

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 96 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Greydon Clark
Cast: Jack Palance, Tarah Nutter. Christopher Nelson, Cameron Mitchell, Neville Brand, Sue Ane Langhorn, Ralph Meeker, Larry Stortch

Alien-terror flick Without Warning (1980) concerns teenagers Tom (David Caruso, Session 9), Greg (Christopher T. Nelson, Roller Boogie), Beth (Lynn Theel, Humanoids from the Deep), Sandy (Tarah Nutter), a fun loving bunch of teens who head on out to a rural country lake for some weekend fun in the sun. Tom and Beth are the your standard-issue horny teens while Greg and Sandy are more virginal and innocent types, the four pile into a sweet 70's shag carpeted Chevy van and drive into the wilderness expecting nothing more but a good time.

Meanwhile out at the lake area  we have father Hunter (Cameron Mitchell, Blood and Black Lace) and his young son are enjoying a father-son weekend hunting trip, plus there's a troop of Cub Scouts and their scout leader Larry Storch (Sweet Sixteen,TV's F Troop), doing your typical scout-type stuff like earning merit badges in the great outdoors. The pair of hunters and the scout troop both end up encountering more than they bargained for this weekend, as something sinister and deadly is lurking in the woods, as they come under attack from flying jellyfish looking creatures that latches onto it's victims and dig into their flesh. These tiny suckers aren't the only threat in the woods however, these frightful frisbees of death are being flung ninja-star style by an alien creature with a human blood lust.

Unware of what's been happening our teens stop off at a roadside gas station where encounter bizarre proprietor Joe Taylor (Jack Palance, Jess Franco's Justine), the flick's harbinger of doom who warns the teens to stay away from the lake, but of course they just laugh it off. Soon after the teens arrive at the scenic water hole and take a dip before the couples split up to pursue their own interests. Of course, it's the horny teens who disappear without a trace early on and the virgins are left to sleuth Scooby-Doo style what has happened to their companions. Assuming their friends are off fucking in the woods they are quite horrified when they find their gooey corpses in a tiny shack along with the bodies of the scout leader and the hunters. Freaked out they scurry back into town and into a bar where they try to tell warn the locals, but the drunken townies just are not buying the city-folk's story. It's here we have some fun appearances from Neville Brand (Eaten Alive) and the aforementioned Jack Palance. Then there is the character of Sarge, a 'Nam vet played by Martin Landau (Ed Wood) who suffers from post-traumatic stress and a bit of alien paranoia, so of course he is the only one who believes the wild story.

Without Warning is exactly the sort of drive-in sci-fi/horror flick that I just love to death, a relic from a bygone era of low-budget cinema with characters that don't follow logic and end up making all the wrong choices. The movie also has a fun cast of characters, teens Greg and Sandy are just the sweetest teens you could ever imagine, they're so nice and polite that it's sort of disgusting, haha. It also helps that both of the young ladies in the film are easy on the eyes, too. While the teens are supposedly the main characters of this flic it is veteran actors Jack Palance and Martin Landau who chew the most scenery, stealing the movie from right from under them young whipper snappers. Landau is particularly fun as the bug-eyed lunatic who believes that everyone has been replaced by aliens, it's just a lot of ridiculous paranoiac fun.

The low-budget special effects in the flick are also a lot of fun, those blood-sucking alien jellyfish pulsate and excrete a yellow liquid which is gooey and gross looking, we get a scene where they latch onto a windshield which offers a close-up and you can see the teeth gnashing away. A lot of the effects are dated but I love these rubber creatures designs, as a fan of low-budget cinema this is the butter on my toast. The predatory creature design is a thing of schlocky beauty, an elongated grey alien with a massive cranium and long creepy fingers. Perhaps not the most articulated design you will ever see but very effective, especially when only glimpsed for brief snatches of screen time. The reveal of the alien is quite effective, it's a bit of a shame it's spoiled on the artwork for the Blu-ray. .

Audio/Video: Without Warning (1980) arrives on Blu-ray from Scream Factory in the original widescreen aspect ratio (1.85:1) and appears quite nice. Shot on the cheap it manages to look pretty spiffy with a nice grain structure and some good color saturation. The HD upgrade doesn't give the fine detail a massive bump but a very pleasing image. The source material is in pretty great shape considering this cult item has been hard to come by for years, and sort of still is as the this Blu-ray is currently out-of-print. The English DTS-HD Mono is clean and well balanced, plus the Dan Wyman (Hell Night) score is creepy and sounds great - there are English subtitles provided.

Onto the extras we have a 21-minute interview with stars Actors Christopher S. Nelson and Tarah Nutter with Nelson remembers the experience fondly and of working with veterans Jack Palance and Martin Landau, while Nutter remembers being cold a lot on set and the struggle to stay warm and being cast in the role. Both actors speak fondly of each other and director Graydon Clark (Satan's Cheerleaders) and what it was like working on a small budget film. Nutter tells of destroying the shack in the field with the sheer volume of her scream, sure. My favorite story from Nelson is that of Jack Palance threatening to punch David Caruso in the face when the actoer laughed during one of his scenes, now that I would love to see!

Cinematographer Dean Cundey (The Thing) chimes in for about fifteen minutes about working with Greydon on four previous low budget films (Black Shampoo, Satan's Cheerleaders, Hi-Riders, Angels Brigade) and this ambitious low-budget production. He warmly recollects working on the film just after finishing Halloween with John Carpenter despite being warned to stay away from exploitation films for the sake of his career and what a great experience it was.

There's also a brief six-minute interview with Special Make-Up Effects Creator Greg Cannom who speaks about creating the low-budget effects for the film while Co-Writer/Co-Producer Daniel Grodnik speaks about his career producing films which includes slasher classic Terror Train and the comedy Star Hops. Extras are buttoned-up with trailers and still gallery plus a reversible sleeve of artwork.

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Producer/Director Greydon Clark
- Independents Day: Interview with Cinematographer Dean Cundey (15 minutes)
- Producers vs Aliens: Interview with Co-Writer/Co-Producer Daniel Grodnik (11 minutes)
- Hunter's Blood: Interview with Special Make-Up Effects Creator Greg Cannom
(6 minutes)
- Greg & Sandy's Alien Adventure: Interview with Actors Christopher S. Nelson and Tarah Nutter (21 minutes)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2 minutes)
- Still Gallery (4 minutes)
- Scream Factory Trailers (5 minutes)

I love it when Scream Factory unearth these drive-in cult classics and spiff them up for the fans to enjoy, this is right up there with backwoods slasher The Final Terror  as a true culty gem of a flick - these would make a great double-feature. I love this weird slice of science fiction drive-in cinema with it's cast of oddball characters and low-budget charms, this is a fiendishly good time for cult film fans. It might not be a genuinely scary movie but it's certainly a fun relic of a bygone era with some nice atmosphere and alien creepiness. Sadly this Blu-ray edition is currently sold out and out-of-print, hopefully Scream Factory will re-new the rights and re-issue it, if not I hope someone like Arrow Video or Vinegar Syndrome will pick it up. 

RETRO-REVIEW: THE FINAL TERROR (1983) (Scream Factory Blu-ray Review)

THE FINAL TERROR (1983)

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 82 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Andrew Davis
Cast: Adrian Zmed, Daryl Hannah, Rachel Wood, Mark Metcalf, Ernest Harden Jr., Joe Pantoliano, John Friedrich

In the previously obscure backwoods slasher The Final Terror (1983) a group of troubled youth head into the wilderness to help clean-up the woods and enjoy some naughty good times with minimal adult supervision and a demented bus driver. As the day wears on the teens smoke some grass and get in a bit of skinny-dipping, before settling down for the night for the around a campfire, spinning tales of an escaped female mental patient and her incestuous offspring, of course with the prerequisite jump scare right at the end. What these teens don't know is that there is actually a killer lurking among the trees, one with an uncanny ability to blend into the surroundings and to stalk without being seen. It's not long before the teens begin to realize that certain members of the group have wandered from the camp into the forest and have not returned, and that's when the heads start to roll. The creepy killer stalks the woods using a unique bladed weapon to dispatch the horny teens one teen-libido at a time to great effect - even if the kills themselves are not super-gory the set-ups are quite decent and suspenseful.

Set in the majestic redwood forest the film has some fantastic wooded views captured with some skillful cinematography - it's a better shot film than most of the slashers of this era. The film is a kindred spirit to other survival-horror films Just Before Dawn and Rituals and is on par and maybe slightly better than either of those, I would put this right up there with Madman as backwoods slashers go. Director Andrew Davis performed second duty as the cinematographer on set and would go on to direct the mega-blockbuster The Fugitive with Harrison Ford years later, but even at this stage of his career you can see the quality of his craft.

The flick is an eerie and slow-burn peppered with some solid moments of violence, but apparently the producers thought it was a bit so slow so they put it on a shelf for a few years. When Daryl Hannah eventually made it big with the release of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner the producers sought to exploit the star's minor role in this entry by tagging on an unnecessary prologue which bumped up the body count by two. The handful of remaining deaths are not gory in their execution but the set-ups are tense and quite effective. One scene that stands out for me is the assault on the bus with the killer smashing in the windows in an attempt to get at the teens inside, making for an atmospheric and tense situation.

The cast is top notch with a slew of first-timers and future stars including a pre-Blade Runner Daryl Hannah, Joe Pantoliano (Memento) plus the douche from Animal House, Mark Metcalf. Everyone turns in a solid performance even if most of the young ladies don't get meaty roles. The standout here is Pantoliano as the agitated bus driver who seems a bit off from the beginning and only gets worse before disappearing for a large chunk of the movie.

Audio/Video: The Final Terroir arrives on Blu-ray from Scream Factory in 1080p HD framed in 1.78:1 widescreen. The original negative and film elements are thought to be lost so what Scream Factory have done here is stitched together a new HD master from six different prints of the film, all sourced from private collectors. Keeping that in mind I found the image to be surprisingly consistent throughout though marred by flickering and other imperfections such as vertical lines,, cigarette burns and speckling. Whatever digital manipulation used to clean-up the film we are left with a fairly consistent grain structure with some minor depth and fine detail in certain scenes. The only audio option is the DTS-HD Master Audio Mono which is clean and does a good job of exporting the dialogue and Susan Justin's eerie synth score including a great main title theme. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided on the disc.

Extras on the disc include an audio commentary with director Andrew Davis who speaks at length about the cast and location with a few fun anecdotes about the production such as how the prologue added by producer Samuel Z. Arkoff ended up paying for his wedding. There are also new interviews with actors Adrien Zmed and Lewis Smith plus the husband and wife duo of production supervisor Allan Holzman and composer Susan Justin.

The Final Terror (1983) is strong backwoods slasher with an interesting killer and a creepy vibe set in the gorgeous redwood forest, there's a lot here to love for slasher fans. This gets a definite recommend for fans of the kindred flicks  Rituals and Just Before Dawn who are looking for an above average slasher entry with some strong survival-horror elements. 

BACK TO THE FUTURE - THE ULTIMATE TRILOGY (1985-1990) (4K UltraHD Review)

BACK TO THE FUTURE 

- THE ULTIMATE TRILOGY (1985-1990) 

Label: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Region Code: Region-Free

Rating: PG

Duration: 116 Minutes, 108 Minutes, 118 Minutes 

Audio: English Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 2160p UHD Widescreen, 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 

Director: Robert Zemeckis 

Cast:  Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Thomas F. Wilson, Crispin Glover,  Elisabeth Shue, Casey Siemaszko, Mary Steenburgen

I was twelve years-old when I first saw Back To The Future (1985). Not in a theater but in a darkened classroom on VHS in middle-school, when one of out teachers showed it to the class on the last day of school before summer break. This was the same teacher that showed us Alien dueling a sleepover lock-in event a few years later, he was a pretty cool guy. Anyway, it was love at first watch, growing up on a steady diet of vintage sci-fi TV and films I was already enamored with the idea of time travel, and this flick starring Michael J. Fox from my favorite TV show Family Ties was the sweet spot for me. The story of highschool kid Marty McFly being flung back in time in a sci-fi DeLorean care back to when his mom and dad were highschoolers themselves was so cool. I remember being a bit creeped out when his teenage mom (Jennifer Jason Leigh), not knowing who he was, found him attractive and obviously had the hots for him, and it's still pretty creepy watching it today, haha.  Christopher Lloyd is amazing as the looney scientist Doc Brown, Crispin Glover is terrific as both the nebbish father of Marty, and the even more nebbish teenage back in the 1950's, and then we have Thomas F. Wilson as the lunk-headed bully Big Tannen. 

I love all three of these time-travelling films, but it is still the first film that I revisit the most, I pretty much only revisit the sequels when I am entertaining younger members of the family and want to show them the whole trilogy, and it blows my mind how many younger kid have not seen all these films - that's just bad pop-culture parenting in my opinion, for shame! Anyway, I finally sat down and re-watched the trilogy last night for the first time in at least a decade, and the new 4K UHD presentation absolutely breathes new life into these timeless time-travelling flicks, and I look forward to sharing them with younger generation yet to come, because I don't think I will ever get tired of watching these awesome films. 

Audio/Video: The Back To The Future Trilogy arrives on 4K UltraHD + Blu-ray + Digital from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment with a new HDR color-grading. The films are each framed in the original 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio and looks stellar. Each film has a fine level of grain throughout that  is mostly well-managed with only a few spots that look like the digital noise reduction was applied a tad heavy, but overall I was quite pleased with the grain levels, as I was with the condition of the source elements, which are near pristine looking. The HDR color-grading is quite pleasing, enhancing the flick with deeper blacks and pushing the primaries with improved color saturation and better contrast levels, it's a sharp looking flick. This being a trilogy the films themselves each having their own production variable that affect the image, I think the first and third film have a definite edge over 

the middle film, which comes down to the first sequel being front-loaded with some now dated digital VFX, which coming from ILM were fantastic for the period but are quite a bit softer than the organic 35mm elements on UHD. That said, all three films look the absolute best they have on home video. 

Audio on comes by way of fresh Dolby Atmos remixes for all three films, in addition to English Dolby TrueHD 7.1, DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English subtitles. For reason involving a large glass of beer and a drunken get together I no longer have Atmos capabilities for the time being, so I had to being out now vintage but still 5.1 surround to the front room, but the audio sounded terrific. The sound field is spacious, dialogue and effects are presented clean and string, and the soundtracks with choice cuts from Huey Lewis and the News, ZZ Top and others is pleasing through and through. Looking forward to checking out the Atmos track at some point to see what goodies we get in the height channels.

Onto the extras we get most if not all the extras from the previous anniversary releases, with new stuff coming by way of  the 10-minute 'The Hollywood Museum Goes Back to the Future'  which is a cool look at the iconic pop-culture props from the films, including the DeLorean, the hoverboard (I still want one!), as well as smaller props and costuming from the flicks. There are also three featurettes that focus on the music adding up to about 31-minutes which did not interest me all that much, and the 20-minute YouTube series 'Could You Survive the Movies? Back to the Future edition, which was a fun bit of silliness that asks if you could really survive some of the scenarios from the film. The best of the extras is the 4-minute 'An Alternate Future: Lost Audition Tapes' which features some soon-to-be famous actors like Billy Zane, Peter DeLuise, Jon Cryer,  C. Thomas Howell, Ben Stiller, and Kyra Sedgwick auditioning for various roles. The bad news, that infamous unused footage of Eric Stoltz is still nowhere to be found! I've seen it pop up on YouTube once in a while so if you have not seen it keep looking! 

The seven-disc set arrives in a slipbox with an unfortunate floating-heads photoshop artwork on the cover, this trilogy has never had great artwork on the sets for some reason. Inside the discs are housed in a discbook,  with the cardboard sleeves that the disc slip into, which I am not a fan of. The good news is that the cover of the slipbox, the pages inside, and the UHD and Blu-ray discs at least feature the original Drew Struzan poster artwork, which is cool. I like that the pages also detail the extras for each film, and we get a Movies Anywhere 4K Digital Copy code for the trilogy. Tiny packaging gripes aside I do dig that we get the extras on both the UHD and Blu-ray discs, except for the bonus disc which is Blu-ray only. If you're not a fan of slipboxes there is a Best Buy Steelbook edition, but even it does not offer the original Drew Struzan artwork, which is a shame. 

Special Features: 

Back To The Future (4K & Blu-ray)
- Q&A Commentary with Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale
- Feature Audio Commentary with Bob Gale and Neil Canton
- Deleted Scenes with optional commentary by Bob Gale (11 min) HD 
- Tales from the Future: In the Beginning… (27 min) HD
- Tales from the Future: Time to Go (30 min) HD
- Tales from the Future: Keeping Time (6 min) HD
 -The Making of Back to the Future (14 min)
- Making the Trilogy: Chapter One (16 min)
- Back to the Future Night (27 min)
- Michael J. Fox Q&A (10 min) 
- Behind the Scenes: Original Makeup Tests (2 min) HD 
- Behind the Scenes: Outtakes (3 min) HD 
- Behind the Scenes: Nuclear Test Site Sequence with optional commentary by Bob Gale (4 min) HD 
- Behind the Scenes: Photo Galleries HD 
- Huey Lewis and the News “The Power of Love” Music Video (6 min)
- Theatrical Teaser Trailer (1 min)
- Join Team Fox Promo (6 min) HD 

Back To The Future II (4K & Blu-ray)
-Q&A Commentary with Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale
- Feature Audio Commentary with Bob Gale and Neil Canton
- Deleted Scenes with optional commentary by Bob Gale (6 min) HD 
- Tales from the Future: Time Flies (29 min) HD
 -The Physics of Back to the Future (8 min) HD 
- The Making of Back to the Future Part II (7 min)
- Making the Trilogy: Chapter Two (16 min)
- Behind the Scenes: Outtakes (1 min)
- Behind the Scenes: Production Design (3 min)
- Behind the Scenes: Storyboarding (2 min)
- Behind the Scenes: Designing the DeLorean (4 min)
- Behind the Scenes: Designing Time Travel (3 min)
- Behind the Scenes: Hoverboard Test (1 min)
- Behind the Scenes: Evolution of Visual Effects Shots (6 min)
- Behind the Scenes: Photo Galleries HD 
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min)

Back To The Future III (4K & Blu-ray)
- Q&A Commentary with Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale
- Feature Audio Commentary with Bob Gale and Neil Canton
- Deleted Scene  with optional commentary by Bob Gale (1 min) HD 
- Tales from the Future: Third Time’s the Charm (17 min) HD 
- Tales from the Future: The Test of Time (17 min) HD 
- The Making of Back to the Future Part III (8 min)
- Making the Trilogy: Chapter Three (16 min) 
- The Secrets of the Back to the Future Trilogy (21 min)
- Behind the Scenes: Outtakes (2 min) )
- Behind the Scenes: Designing the Town of Hill Valley (1 min) 
- Behind the Scenes: Designing the Campaign (1 min) )
- 5 Behind the Scenes: Photo Galleries HD
- ZZ Top “Doubleback” Music Video (4 min)
- FAQs About the Trilogy HD 
 -Theatrical Trailer (2 min)
- Back to the Future: The Ride (31 min) 

Bonus Disc  (Blu-ray)
- NEW! The Hollywood Museum Goes Back to the Future (10 min) HD 
- NEW! Back to the Future: The Musical - Cast and Creative Q&A (28 min) HD 
- NEW! Back to the Future: The Musical - “Gotta Start Somewhere” (3 min) HD 
- NEW! Back to the Future: The Musical - “Put Your Mind to It” (3 min) HD 
- NEW! An Alternate Future: Lost Audition Tapes (4 min) HD 
- NEW! Could You Survive the Movies? Back to the Future (20 min) HD 
- 2015 Message from Doc Brown (1 min) HD
- Doc Brown Saves the World (9 min) HD 
- OUTATIME: Restoring the DeLorean (22 min) HD )
- Looking Back to the Future (46 min)
- Back to the Future: The Animated Series - Brothers (23 min)
- Back to the Future: The Animated Series - Mac the Black (23 min
- 2015 Commercial: Jaws 19 Trailer (1 min) HD 
- 2015 Commercial: Hoverboard (1 min) HD

The Back to The Future - The Ultimate Trilogy is a fantastic set, the A/V upgrade is well-worth a double, triple or quadruple-dip, or whatever the case might be at this point, I know I have upgraded this set no less than three times! If you are a fan of the series and want the best looking and sounding editions this set is the way to go.   

Atmospheric Thriller THE RENTAL (2020) Makes its Blu-ray Debut December 1st, 2020 from Scream Factory

THE RENTAL (2020) 

A secluded getaway with killer views may sound like the perfect vacation, but a celebratory weekend trip takes an ominous turn in the tense psychological thriller The Rental. Making its Blu-ray debut December 1st, 2020 from Scream Factory, in conjunction with IFC Midnight, this suspenseful film boasts an all-star cast including Alison Brie (Community, GLOW), Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey, Beauty & The Beast), Jeremy Allen White (Shameless) and Sheila Vand (A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night) and is the directorial debut of Dave Franco (Neighbors, The Disaster Artist). The release also includes a behind the scenes featurette as a bonus feature, and fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com

Two couples on an oceanside getaway find that their celebratory weekend trip has turned into something far more sinister as an imminent threat forces them to expose well-kept secrets and they come to see each other in a whole new light. Alison Brie, Dan Stevens, Jeremy Allen White and Sheila Vand star in this unnerving and sophisticated debut thriller from Dave Franco.

Special Features: 
- Behind the scenes featurette
- Theatrical trailer

Long-awaited, limited-edition release of GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN (1958) arriving Dec. 17th & Jan. 19th

GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN (1958) 

Available in Blu-ray & DVD, 1958 Science-Fiction Cult Classic Returns in Limited-Edition

Giant Cult Film Collector’s Box Set for the Holidays; General Release Scheduled for Jan. 19th

The Film Detective (TFD), a classic media streaming network and film archive that restores and distributes classic films for today's cord-cutters, announces the release of Richard E. Cunha’s science-fiction classic, Giant from the Unknown (1958), on limited-edition Blu-ray and DVD. The Giant from the Unknown release comes as the latest in a series of restorations in collaboration with The Wade Williams Collection.

For the first time ever, TFD presents film fans with the ultimate cinematic experience, offering Giant from the Unknown in a Limited-Edition Giant Cult Film Box Set, available to order now through Nov. 13th from TFD store via Imagen, delivered by Dec. 17th in time for the holidays.

Cult classic fans who order the Limited-Edition Giant Cult Film Box Set will receive the stunning 4K restoration of Giant from the Unknown, available on Blu-ray ($64.95) or DVD ($59.95), and rare collectibles … More than a month before the Giant from the Unknown’s general release. TFD will release the stand-alone special-edition restoration of Giant from the Unknown on limited-edition Blu-ray ($24.95) and DVD ($19.95) Jan. 19th.

In Giant from the Unknown, Dr. Frederick Cleveland (Morris Ankrum) and his daughter Janet (Sally Fraser) are joined by scientific researcher Wayne Brooks (Ed Kemmer) in the pursuit of ancient artifacts from Vargas, a giant 500-year-old Spanish conquistador. When a lightning storm interrupts their search, the team finds much more than artifacts when the long-lost Vargas returns to life, with a murderous rage and an axe to grind!

Giant from the Unknown has been resurrected from the original camera negative with a stunning 4K transfer and includes exclusive special features: Never-before-seen interviews with author C. Courtney Joyner and actor Gary Crutcher and commentary from historian Tom Weaver, directed by Daniel Griffith at Ballyhoo Motion Pictures.

Inspired by the film, the Limited-Edition Giant Cult Film Box Set features exclusive collectibles that will thrill any cult classic film fan, including a 13-month cult film calendar, bookmark, magnet, custom playing card deck and lapel pin inspired by Vargas the Giant himself. And that’s not all! Each box set will also include a surprise, TFD Vault cult film, recently restored from the original camera negative in stunning 4K and a one-year subscription to The Film Detective app, unlocking thousands of classic film and television titles available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.

At an $120+ value, the Limited-Edition Giant Cult Film Box Set is the perfect holiday treat. And if this giant offer at giant savings wasn’t incentive enough, the first 100 Blu-ray box set orders will receive their copy of Giant from the Unknown in a special blood-red Blu-ray case.

The Limited-Edition Giant Cult Film Box Set deal won’t last long! The Film Detective store will be available now through Nov.13, with box sets to arrive by December 17th. To order, visit https://thefilmdetective.imagenorders.com For more information on the general Jan. 19th Giant from the Unknown release, visit www.TheFilmDetective.com

Special Features: 

- Audio commentary with author/historian Tom Weaver and guests

- Audio commentary with co-star Gary Crutcher 

- You're a B-Movie Star, Charlie Brown, an all-new interview with actor/screenwriter Gary Crutcher 

- The Man With A Badge: Bob Steele in the 1950s, an all-new interview with author/film historian C. Courtney Joyner 

- Original Trailer 

- Blu-ray collector's booklet with still gallery and liner notes by Tom Weaver

About The Film Detective:
The Film Detective (TFD) is a leading distributor of restored classic programming, including feature films, television, foreign imports and documentaries. Launched in 2014, TFD has distributed its extensive library of 3,000+ hours of film on DVD and Blu-ray and through leading broadcast and streaming platforms such as Turner Classic Movies, NBC, EPIX, Pluto TV, Amazon, MeTV, PBS and more. With a strong focus on increasing the digital reach of its content, TFD has released its classic movie app on web, Android, iOS, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV. TFD is also available live with a 24/7 linear channel available on Sling, STIRR, Plex and DistroTV. For more information, visit us online at www.TheFilmDetective.com

Giant from the Unknown
The Film Detective
Discs: 1
Genre: Horror, Science Fiction, Cult
Original Release: 1958 (B&W)
Not Rated
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Running Time: 77 Minutes
SRP Limited-Edition Collector’s Box Set: $64.95 (Blu-ray) / $59.95 (DVD)
SRP General Release: $24.95 (Blu-ray) / $19.95 (DVD)
Box Set Order Date: Now through Nov. 13, 2020 (Delivered by Dec. 17, 2020)
General Release Date: Jan. 19, 2021

Sleazy Giallo THE CRIMES OF THE BLACK CAT (1972) and rare Spanish shocker BEYOND TERROR (1980) are both making their worldwide Blu-ray debut from Cauldron Films!

BEYOND TERROR (1980)

THE CRIMES OF THE BLACK CAT (1972)

ORDER CAULDRON FILMS TITLES NOW AT DIABOLIKDVD or CAULDRON-FILMS.COM 

LIMITED to 1800 COPIES EACH! 

DiabolikDVD continues their alliance with Cauldron Films and is now offering preorders for two new titles! Their next two Blu-ray releases, the sleazy Giallo THE CRIMES OF THE BLACK CAT and the rare Spanish shocker BEYOND TERROR are both making their worldwide blu-ray debut and available pre-order on special edition Blu-Ray now at DiabolikDVD and at Cauldron-Films.com. PLUS Cauldron is offering many exclusive items directly on their site!

About Cauldron Films…. Cauldron plans to release several films on Blu-ray over the next year, including many that have never had a proper home video release in the US, some of which have only ever been released on VHS if at all! Cauldron has a full slate of 70s and 80s Cult Films in the works using the best available materials to showcase films from Spaghetti Westerns, Giallo, Horror, Action, and more, ALL with the collector in mind!

BEYOND TERROR (1980)

Limited Blu-ray w/ Slipcase - $27.99

A.K.A. Más allá del terror, Further Than Fear, Terrorgang

1980 / Spain / Horror / Director – Tomás Aznar

Their Nightmare Was Further than Fear… It was BEYOND TERROR !

After a drug-fueled night of violence, a group of young degenerates and their hostages find themselves stranded in a remote, abandoned church in rural Spain. Their evening of debauchery and blasphemy quickly turns to greed when they discover a local legend that tells of a vast fortune guarded by mummies in the catacombs beneath the ruins. Their lust for the treasure is short-lived as they find that the supernatural horror in the catacombs is something further than fear… it is Beyond Terror!

Beyond Terror (Más allá del terror) is a lost gem that is long overdue for rediscovery. Never available on home video in the United States, Beyond Terror makes its worldwide Blu-ray debut from Cauldron Films with a brand new 4K scan from the camera negative that has been restored to its original grim glory. Co-written by Juan Piquer Simón (Pieces, Slugs), this early ‘80s hybrid unfolds like an homage to Amando de Ossorio’s Tombs of the Blind Dead, by way of Mario Bava’s Rabid Dogs, with a healthy dose of violence, gore, sex, eerie crypts and supernatural revenge!

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary by Film Historan Kat Ellinger
- Image gallery with soundtrack
- Spanish audio
- English subtitles
- 4K restoration from the original negative
- Mini press book reproduction booklet including writings about the film by Scott Carlson (limited edition only)
Double sided mini lobby card reproductions (limited edition only)
- High quality side loaded slipcase (limited edition only)
- Reverse Blu-ray wrap featuring the original Spanish title and poster art
- Limited to 1800 copies

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THE CRIMES OF THE BLACK CAT (1972) 

 Limited Blu-ray/CD w/ Slipcase - $29.99

9 Lives Fueled by Murder!

A mysterious murder and a strange, hushed conversation lead a blind musician into the path of a vicious killer in Sergio Pastore’s sleazy 1972 giallo: The Crimes of the Black Cat!

After a young model seemingly dies of a heart attack, her lover, Peter Oliver (Anthony Steffen, The Night Evelyn Came out of the Grave, Django the Bastard) and his butler begin their own investigation into the death and soon find an intertwined series of murders, all involving a cat and a yellow shawl. One step ahead of the police, but always right behind the killer, Peter manages to piece together clue after clue until the final, shocking showdown with the bloodthirsty killer.

Released in the shadows of Dario Argento’s wildly successful The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (and one of over 30 Italian giallo films produced in 1972), The Crimes of the Black Cat delivers the style of a classic giallo with sleazy, over the top violence that rivals Italian films from a decade later. Despite its pedigree of talent including Sylva Koscina (Lisa and the Devil), Renato De Carmine (Challenge to White Fang), Giacomo Rossi Stuart (Death Smiles at a Murderer, Shanghai Joe), Umberto Raho (Amuck, Summertime Killer), and Annabella Incontrera (The Case of the Bloody Iris), an eerie score by Manuel De Sica (Dellamorte Dellamore), and behind the scenes work from Fabrizio De Angelis (producer of Zombie, The Beyond) The Crimes of the Black Cat has been largely ignored on home video. Previously unavailable in HD or in the proper aspect ratio, The Crimes of the Black Cat makes its worldwide Blu-Ray debut with an uncut 4K restoration via Cauldron Films.

Special Features: 
- Remembering Sergio Pastore – Interview with Sara Pastore
- Sergio Pastore – Un Ammirevole Indipendente
- Audio Commentary by Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
- Audio Commentary track with Fragments of Fear – A Giallo Podcast with Peter Jilmstad and Rachael Nisbet
- Trailer
- Image Gallery
- English audio
- Italian audio
- English subtitles
- Optional English SDH subtitles
- 2.35:1 aspect ratio
- Uncut 4K restoration from 35mm archival materials
- CD soundtrack with music by Manuel De Sica (limited edition only)
- Reverse Blu-ray wrap featuring Italian poster art
- Double sided mini lobby card reproductions (limited edition only)
- High quality side loaded slipcase with artwork by Eric Adrian Lee (limited edition only)

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ORDER FROM CAULDRON

ORDER BOTH FROM CAULDRON