THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1999) - TRICK 'R TREAT (2007) - SINGLE WHITE FEMALE(1992)
First up, the Scream Factory Collector's Edition of the Dark Castle Entertainment reimagining of the William Castle classic THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1999), starring Geoffrey Rush (Quills) in the Vincent Price role. Here we have an eccentric millionaire who throws a deadly birthday bash for his devious wife (Famke Janssen, X-Men) at a former asylum for the criminally insane - that is said to be haunted. Rush is fantastic in the role, playing well against his duplicitous wife as played by Jannsen, the pair mixing together like battery acid and Evian water, a delicious cocktail of campy volatility! The film has aged pretty well, I don't remember loving it a whole lot when I saw in at the cinema, when I was in my jaded 20s, but watching this go around I was very pleased with it, the 90's camp hit all the right notes for me. The film features turns from Ali Larter (Final Destination), Taye Diggs, Peter Gallagher (American Beauty), Bridget Wilson, and Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator) as the former (now ghostly) Dr. Richard Benjamin Vannacutt who performed bizarre and sadistic surgeries on the patients at the asylum before they turned on him and they all burned up in raging inferno. The film has wonderful tongue-in-cheek humor, and special effects from the KNB Effects Group, who bring a mix of old school practical special effects along with some inferior digital stuff, but the mix leans heavy on the practical side of things. Scream Factory impress with a new 2K scan performed by Warner Bros., bringing out some solid detail in the image. They also pony-up for some cool new extras, we get all the vintage stuff from the previous DVD release and a new audio commentary with Director William Malone, plus new interviews with Malone, composer Don Davis, and visual effects supervisor Robert Skotak. The release comes with a 2-sided sleeve of artwork and a slipcover, Scream did good work with this one, would love to see them tackle Thir13en Ghosts (2001) next.
House on Haunted Hill Special Features:
- NEW 2K scan from the original film elements
- NEW interview with director William Malone
- NEW interview with composer Don Davis
- NEW Interview with visual effects supervisor Robert Skotak
- Never-Before-Seen storyboards, concept art and behind-the-scenes photos courtesy of visual effects producer Paul Taglianetti
- Audio Commentary with director William Malone
- A Tale of Two Houses – vintage featurette
- Behind the Visual FX – vintage featurette
- Deleted Scenes
- Theatrical Trailer
- TV Spots
- Movie Stills and Poster Gallery
Also getting the Collector's Edition treatment is the new-Halloween classic TRICK 'R TREAT (2007), the horror anthology is spooky, fun and horrifying. It already had a very good Blu-ray release in my opinion, but Scream have manages to sweeten the treats with a new 2K scan that looks terrific with a new color grading that shines, plus we get loads of extras. They port over all the vintage extras from the original Blu-ray release, and even more new extras, they really went above and beyond for what I would say was a new classic. Few film before or after are so deeply steeped in the lore of Halloween and drenched in atmosphere, perfectly capturing the vibe of the season with it's tales of werewolves, vampires, child murder, and proper Halloween decoration etiquette. The Scream Factory release offers up a 2-sided sleeve of artwork with a new and gorgeous illustration from artists Devon Whitehead, plus a slipcover. Still waiting on a sequel to this one, but in the meantime I would love for Scream Factory to get their hands on the other Trick Or Treat (1986), a fun rock n' roll nightmare long overdue for a proper US Blu-ray release.
Trick 'R Treat Special Features:
- NEW 2K Scan of the original film elements supervised and approved by director Michael Dougherty
- NEW Tales of Folklore & Fright: Creating Trick ‘r Treat – including interviews with writer/director Michael Dougherty, conceptual artist Breehn Burns, and storyboard artist Simeon Wilkins.
- NEW Tales of Mischief & Mayhem: Filming Trick ‘r Treat – in-depth interview with Michael Dougherty on the making of the film
- NEW Sounds of Shock & Superstition: Scoring Trick ‘r Treat – including interviews with Michael Dougherty and composer Douglas Pipes
- NEW Tales of Dread and Despair: Releasing Trick ‘r Treat – a look at the release and fandom with Michael Dougherty and writer Rob Galluzzo
- Season’s Greetings – NEW 2K scan of the original 16mm elements – a short film by Michael Dougherty with optional commentary by Dougherty
- NEW Storyboard and Conceptual Artwork Gallery
- NEW Behind the Scenes Still Gallery
- NEW Monster Mash – a story from the TRICK ‘R TREAT graphic novel
- NEW FEARnet.com Shorts
- Audio Commentary with director Michael Dougherty
- Trick ‘R Treat: The Lore and Legends of Halloween featurette
- Deleted and Alternate Scenes with optional commentary by director Michael Dougherty
- School Bus FX Comparison
- Theatrical Trailer
Last up for this edition of The Epitaph is the 90's thriller SINGLE WHITE FEMALE (1982), finally getting a long overdue Blu-ray with some solid extras. This tale of roommate obsession and identity approrpriation is up there with Misery and Silence of the Lambs as one of the best thriller from that decade. Bridget Fonda (Lake Placid) and Jennifer Jason Lee (Breakfast Club) are dynamite as the roomies who hit it off before one becomes strangely obsessed with the other, a film with a surprising amount of violence and amped-up sexiness, it really pushes that R-rating! The film was shot by Suspiria cinematographer Luciano Tovoli and looks wonderful in HD, surprisingly this is not advertised as a new 2K scan but the image is bold and crisp. This is also not branded as a "Collector's Edition" which I can only assume is because neither actress would partake of the extras, but we do get some substantial extras, this includes a new audio commentary from the director, editor and producer plus some lengthy interview with Schroeder, screenwriter Don Roos (Happy Endings) and actors Peter Friedman (The Seventh Sign) and Steven Weber (TVs Wings). Unfortunately no interview with neither of the leading ladies of superstar character actor Stephen Tobolowsky (Groundhog's Day) who shows up her as a pervy boss. Fans of top-notch thriller will need this in their collection, a film that I thinks has been sort of undervalued in the years since it hit the cinema.
Single White Female Special Features:
- NEW Audio Commentary with Director Barbet Schroeder, Editor Lee Percy, and Associate Producer Susan Hoffman
- NEW Interview With Director Barbet Schroeder
- NEW Interview With Actor Peter Friedman
- NEW Interview With Actor Steven Weber
- NEW Interview With Screenwriter Don Roos
- Theatrical Trailer
