INTO THE NIGHT (1985) (Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review)

INTO THE NIGHT (1985)
Collector's Edition Blu-ray 

Label: Shout Factory/Shout Select
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 115 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 with Optional English subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: John Landis
Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Pfeiffer, Richard Farnsworth, Irene Papas, Kathryn Harrold, Dan Aykroyd, Bruce McGill, David Bowie

In John Landis's insomnia-thriller Into the Night (1985) Jeff Goldblum (The Fly) stars as Ed Okin, a sleep deprived man deeply unsatisfied by his job as an aerospace engineer who has just discovered that his wife is having an affair with her co-worker. On the strange advice of his friend (Dan Aykroyd, Spies Like Us) he heads to LAX airport to try to get some shuteye, which is where he encounters the gorgeous jewel thief Diana (Michelle Pfeifer (Batman Returns) who literally lands on his car, and thus begins a surreal, all-night odyssey of quirky mystery and intrigue. 

This is a strange little all-night thriller that features our duo making their way through Los Angeles trying to survive the night, on the run from a British hitman played by David Bowie (The Hunger) and four Iranian henchmen, one of whom is a mute character played by director John Landis. The movie is simplistically convoluted in a Hitchcockian by way of the Coen Brothers (Blood Simple), with Goldblum as the everyday man caught up in a web of intrigue, and Pfeiffer as the gorgeous blond femme fatale, the story line involving emeralds stolen from the Shah of Iran and some shady real estate deals, but the emeralds are just the McGuffin of the story that set in motion a series of events, and this movie could easily be described in unfavorable terms as just a series of events, but I love it.

In typical Landis fashion there are a metric ton of director cameos in the movie, be on the lookout for David Cronenberg (Shivers), Paul Bartel (Eating Raul), Don Siegel (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), Amy Heckerling (Fast Times at Ridgemeont High), Lawrence Kasdan (Body Heat), and Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs)just to name a few. Also appearing in various roles are Bruce McGill (Animal House) as an Elvis impersonator, the lovable codger Richard Farnsworth (Barton Fink) as an old man on his deathbed, Vera Miles (Psycho), 80's celebrity body-builder Jake Steinfeld, and genre legend Clu Gulager (The Initiation) as an FBI agent, seriously half the fun of this movie is just cameo-spotting.

Where the movie arguably falters is that this thriller has no defined comeuppance or knot-tying finale, it's more about Goldblum's depressive and insomniac journey through the strangeness of L.A., a quiet but madcap thriller. Thankfully the chemistry between Goldblum and Pfeiffer is pretty great, for one she is stunning but also very funny, it's no wonder both went on to huge stardom soon afterward, they're both magnetic, Goldbum as the quirky every man and she as the alluring mystery woman. I myself would happily fall into her labyrinthine of intrigue if she landed on top of my car screaming for help, of that I have no doubt. 

Audio/Video: Into the Night (1985) arrives on Blu-ray from Shout Factory imprint Shout Select with a new HD scan framed in 1.85:1 widescreen  and it look simply wonderful. Colors are rich, black levels are deep, and the fine detail is lush, there's some really nice depth the image, too. Audio comes by way of an English DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 Mono track with optional English subtitles, the track is clean and buoyant, dialogue is sharp, and the strange blues-licks/80's synth score from Ira Newborn (Innocent Blood) and B.B. King come through smoothly.  

Shout! compliment the film with a few new extras, brand new interviews with both director John Landis and star Jeff Goldbum! John Landis shows up for a great 26-minute interview recounting all the casting that didn't happen, beginning with flying to Aspen, Colorado to meet with Jack Nicholson whom he wanted to star in the film, obviously Nicholson turned him down, but it's a fun story. He also speaks about wanting Gene Hackman (Night Moves) for the film but the studio head balked at the idea, and more talk of Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween) who dropped out of the project to star in a film with Travolta, that movie was the jazzer-cising Perfect (1983), and it was awful! Landis also goes into how he came to appear in such a large role in the film as one of the Iranians, also addressing how hard it is to make David Bowie look unsightly in a movie, he just looked so good no matter what they did to ugly him up. He also address the B.B. King/Ira Newborn score and how that was composed, with B.B. King playing along to the movie and then Newborn went in and composed instrumentation around those guitar licks, resulting in the strange blues/synth hybrid we hear.  

Goldblum shows up for a fun 22-min interview, he's funny, self-deprecating, seemingly realizing in the moment that this is kind of an homage to Hitchcock's Vertigo. He observes that he wasn't quite an actor at this point in his career, feeling he didn't really capture the character's transformation they way he could have, describing his style as "primitive and unsophisticated". He also speaks about some of the locations then and now, and how Landis referred to the lines for the day as "the jokes", which he calls fun and "kooky". He pitches an idea for a sequel at the end, which I would love to see. 

Also on the disc is the B.B. King documentary 'B.B. King Into the Night' which was directed by Landis.  This one features a music video for King's song "Lucille", a video featuring Goldblum and Pfeifer, in addition to Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, and Steve Martin as performers in the band, it's a bit of a fluff piece but fun just the same and does relate to the film, and features fun performances of the aforementioned "My Lucille", "Into the Night", and "In the Midnight Hour", plus a great vintage live clip of King playing "The Thrill is Gone" from 1973. The disc is finished-up with a trailer for the film.  

This single-disc Collector's Edition Blu-ray comes housed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase with the a-side featuring the original movie poster artwork, the b-side featuring a scene from the flick.The disc itself features a purple washed background with Pfeiffer's character on it.  

Special Features: 
- NEW Restored Master
- NEW John Landis: “Back Into The Night” (26 min) HD 
- NEW Jeff Goldblum: “Requiem For An Insomniac” (23 min) HD 
- Award-Winning Documentary B.B. King Into The Night 926 min) SD
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2 min) SD

I'm kind of sad that this insomnia-fueled thriller got by me for so long, on the other I am happy that my first viewing was this gorgeous Blu-ray from Shout Select. If you're a John Landis fan like myself who missed out on this one for so long you need to seek it out, this is a great edition with wonderful A/V presentation and some excellent extras. It's been a great few months for Landis fans, with Innocent Blood (1992) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive, and now Into the Night (1985) from Shout!, and this one has some great extras, unlike the former. 

INNOCENT BLOOD (1992) (Warner Archive Blu-ray Review)

INNOCENT BLOOD (1992)

Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 115 Minutes (International Version)
Audio: English DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080P HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: John Landis 
Cast: Anne Parillaud, Robert Loggia, Anthony LaPaglia, Don Rickles, Chazz Palminteri, Angela Bassett

I caught Innocent Blood (1992)at the theater in '92 and I loved it - but I think I was in a minority at the time, it didn't go over all that well with the masses as I recall, including my friends. Here we have a bloodsucking comedy about a Parisian vampire who accidentally turns a maniacal Pittsburg mobster into a bloodthirsty vampire when she fails to kill him properly after feasting on his blood. The mobster, Salvatore "Sal the Shark" Macelli, is played by Robert Loggia (Lost Highway), an over-the-top portrayal as a power-crazed mobster, and that was before he was turned into a bloodsucker! The vampiress, played by the pixie-ish Anne Parillaud (La Femme Nikita) is a Dexter-ish sort of femme fatale, she has her own moral code, which prohibits her from drinking the blood of innocents, preferring only the crimson fluid of criminals, which is why she sets her sights on this particular Italian crime family, who are in the midst of a turf war. 

Once turned Macelli realizes the vampiric power he now has, and begins turning his crew into the undead, beginning with his Jewish lawyer Manny, played by comedy legend Don Rickles who is fantastic! He also turns two wiseguys played by future Sopranos stars Tony Sirico and David Proval. Realizing that she's unleashed a monster of the city Marie sets about to stop the ruthless mobster with the help of an undercover cop, Joseph Gennaro (Anthony LaPaglia, Empire Records), who has ties to the crime family.  The comedy comes fast and furious in this one, mixed in with some sweet gore and awesome special effects from Steve Johnson (Poltergeist II: The Other Side). There's not a whole lot of fang-action, we get some tearing of flesh and bloodied faces as the vampires feast messily on their victims, and both Rickles and Loggia have visually stunning death scenes, especially Rickles who catches an intense ray of sunshine before going up in flames in sight of a hysterical nurse played by scream queen Linnea Quigley (Return of the Living Dead)! That's a scene I feel is owed some love from Let The Right One In, which has a very similar vamp at a hospital scene, he blows up real nice! Not all the effects and visual trickery hold up though, there's a weird circling camera movement that feels like an ode to Argento's Opera (1987) that takes place in a church, meant to imply Maria can fly (or turn into a bat?) that falls a bit flat, and the red-eyes I loved when I saw it at the cinema doesn't hold up, but that cracked-skin, burning embers effects of the vamps going up in flames is still fantastic stuff. 

Loggia steals the show, at least when Rickles isn't on screen, particularly as the scenery chewing (and bloodsucking) mob boss, with great one liners like "I can hear an angel fart" and "I'm gonna grind you down to blood and screams", loads of great quotes in this one, so good. Parillaud as the pint-sized vamp-vixen is good but not great, her French accent sounds a bit odd when they modulate her voice when she's vamped-out, at one point sounding like Lou Ferrigno, but she does fine, she's very easy on the eyes. The love story with her and LaPaglia is dead on arrival to me, I don't feel the chemistry, but it pays off with a kinky handcuffed sex scene, her tiny body is undeniably sexy, and she bares it a few times. LaPaglia like Parillaud is decent, but he's fairly low-key and straight-laced, overshadowed by the deliciously blood-crazed performance of Robert Loggia, who is just so great. 

The movie is front loaded with director cameos, a bit of a trademark for director Landis, with Sam Raimi (Evil Dead) as a meat man, Dario Argento (Tenebre) as a paramedic, and Frank Oz (The Dark Crystal) as a morgue mortician. Also be on the lookout for special effects master Tom Savini (Day of the Dead) as a photojournalist and the beloved Forest "Famous Monsters of Filmland" Ackerman in a brief cameo. Another fun Landis-ism is the appearance of other movies on TV's throughout the movie, we get clips of people watching Hammer classic Horror of Dracula (1958), Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (1951), the Harryhausen extravaganza The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms(1951) and Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954), all these clips brought to mind the Landis-produced HBO sitcom Dream On (1990-1996)which was predicated on TV clips. 

This one is criminally underrated, and too often maligned, perhaps owing a bit to the fact that Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula hit theaters the same year, this one sort of waned in its shadow, but this is well worth a revisit, a horror-comedy along the lines of An American Werewolf in Paris, it was even marketed in some foreign market as  A French Vampire in America, against Landis's wishes, but I can see the urge from the marketing department to make that connection to movie goers. 

The mix of mafia crime film and slapstick horror comedy is fun, it doesn't all stick when thrown up against the wall, but most of it sticks without overdoing it, the comedy is fun, the romance is just alright, and the horror is mixed well with the silliness. Landis does not get enough credit as a director these days, but this was a unique and original idea for a vamp flick and he executed it with his usual comedy-deftness, balancing the absurd with the grotesque. 

Audio/Video: Innocent Blood (1992) arrives on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive with a brand new 2017 HD master that looks mighty spiffy. Previously only available in an unattractive pan and scan full frame DVD for Warners we get a nicely opened-up 1.78:1 widescreen presentation revealing left and right information not seen on home video in the U.S. before - it's an eye-opener! Grain is nicely managed, the film has a certain early 90's ugliness to it, a gritty urban patine, but it's all nicely resolved in HD and the reds really pop, plus the black levels are nice and deep. 

The only audio option on the disc is an English language DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo track and it does the job; crisp and clean, nicely balanced with some good stereo separation, the music scores from Ira Newborn (Mallrats) sounds great, plus songs selections from Frank Sinatra, Cole Porter, Prince and the New Power Generation and the Rhythm Syndicate. Optional English subtitles are provided. 

Warner Archive are not known for their newly produced extras, and true to form there are none here, we get only the trailer for the DVD, but there's is something new, this is the longer international cut (115 min) version of the film with over two minutes of never-before-released-in-the U.S. footage, it doesn't add up to a whole lot honestly, a few seconds here and there, some dialogue, a bit more of a burning Loggia at the end, but it's great to have this Landis comedy in widescreen HD and uncut!   

Special Features:
- Theatrical Trailer (HD)

Finally at long last Innocent Blood (1992) gets a proper widescreen HD release from Warner archive, they even sweeten the deal with a longer international cut we've never had in the U.S.. Sure, I would have loved a John Landis commentary or an interview, the guys is always a veritable treasure trove of Hollywood insight, but I am pleased as punch just to have this sweet looking widescreen HD version of the film on Blu-ray! It doesn't mix the comedy and horror as well as An American Werewolf in London, but then again, so few do, and that's a Hell of a benchmark, even for the same director.

 

DVD Review: Machete Maidens Unleashed! (2010)

MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED! (2010)
2 Disc Set DVD

Label: Umbrella Entertainment
Region Code: Region 0 PAL
Rating: 15 Certificate
Duration: 84 mins
Video: 1.77:1 Widescreen 16x9
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1, 2.0
Director: Mark Hartley
Cast: Roger Corman, Joe Dante, John Landis, Sid Haig, Judy Brown, Jack Hill
Tagline: The Filipino Revolution That Even Marcos Couldn't Crush!

Mark Hartley's previous genre cinema documentary NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD was a super-charged exploration of Australian exploitation cinema, a mesmerizing doc you watch with pen and paper in hand while you jot the names of films you may never have heard but the  film's combination of outrageous film clips and enthusiastic talking heads, Quentin Tarantino most notably, convinced me that these ozploitation films from down under NEEDED to seen, and the sooner the better.

This time out Hartley has aimed his lens on the renegade exploitation films of the Philippines from the 60's, 70's and 80's, these b-movies drive-in shlockers from the Wild East were a genre of film I was completely unfamiliar with. Where as with the slasher doc GOING TO PIECES: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SLASHER FILM I had seen 95% of those films, it was a greatest hits of slashers cinema but there wasn't much new under the sun for me to discover. With NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD I had at least seen MAD MAX and RAZORBACK but it really opened my eyes to quite a few films and filmmakers that had never popped up on my radar. Enter MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED! - this may as well have been about cult films from the planet Mars, these films were totally new to me. I had only heard of THE BIG BIRD CAGE, that was the extent of my familiarity with any of the films and this was quite an introduction, it's definitely primed my urge to seek these films out in a big bad way.

The film starts with an introduction by director John Landis (AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON) who gives a great definition of exploitation and explains the three "B's"- blood, boobs and bombs. Landis is a cinema nut I could listen to for several lifetimes, he's witty, informed and totally enthusiastic about schlock cinema. The film concentrates on the three major players in the Filipino exploitation market beginning with the director Eddie Romero who brought forth the BLOOD ISLAND series of films and a successful tidal wave of demented and sleazy exploitation flicks. Then came the age of Cirio H. Santiago, a man who's mix of kung-fu action and blaxploitation resulted in T.N.T. JACKSON and SAVAGE, fun stuff, but apparently not a man known for quality filmmaking. John Davison, New World Marketing director observes "once Cirio started producing and directing, I mean, all bets were off in terms of product being half way decent", then recalling Roger Corman screaming into the phone "you really screwed me this time Cirio!" after a particularly disastrous screening, it's hilarious stuff and makes for compelling viewing. The third major Philippine filmmaker was Bobby Suarez, the PT Barnum of Filipino action films, who directed the nun-ploitation schlock-fest CLEOPATRA WONG, whom counts Tarantino among his worshippers, but again, his films were charmingly inept.

The film is as much a documentary of Roger Corman's involvement in bringing the Wild East exploitation to American drive-ins as it is anything else and there's some great interviews with the b-movie master himself, often rebuking allegations immediately following Joe Dante or John Landis chronicling his notoriously schlocky ways. Hearing Alan Arkush and Joe Dante (PIRANHA, THE HOWLING) recollect their time as trailer editors for Corman is priceless, its nearly slanderous, probably true and quite funny. There's interviews galore with b-movie queens, directors and critics. There's plenty of camera time given to director Jack Hill (THE BIG BIRD HOUSE) who seems to have a firm grasp on what kind of films were being made, Aussie Brian Trenchard-Smith (CUT AND RUN) who speaks a bit about the zany stuntmen, working with the Philippine military and explosives "experts" who may or may not have had missing fingers. The interviews with B-movie stars like  Gloria Hendry (SAVAGE SISTERS), Pam Grier (WOMEN IN CAGES), and genre legend Sid Haig (BLACK MAMA, WHITE MAMA) are chock full of insights and recollections of unsafe sets, shady goings on and just the general insanity of the era, it was like the west of exploitation cinema by all accounts. In a deleted with actress Marlene Clark (THE BEAST MUST DIE) she tells of a near disastrous scene where her character is raped by a group of dwarves (!?!) and during filming the little guys truly thought they were to actually rape her, she had to stop the scene and clarify the situation, that's the kind of sleazy behind-the-scene stuff we get here in abundance, these were mondo psychotronic films made in unsafe conditions without a safety net, really bizarre stuff.

Many of the filmmakers discuss making these films with the full cooperation with the Marcos regime, who were only too happy to supply military troupes and equipment to the productions when they weren't otherwise strafing rebel uprisings, it's such an weird but oddly appropriate setting for these sleazy grindhouse films. Of course, there's mention of Francis Ford Coppola's famously difficult shoot of APOCALYPSE NOW, the largest production ever to shoot in the Philippines, the films is a bit outside the film's sleazy b-movie scope but it felt appropriate, and any excuse for a R. Lee Ermey (FULL METAL JACKET) interview is appreciated and needs no explanation.

At times some of the interviewees attempt to argue that these sleazy, often racist exploitation films, turned out for a buck with a script held together by sweaty breasts, shower scenes and violence, entertained ideas of feminism which John Landis dismisses with no small amount of incredulity, but it's all in fun to me and if some of these b-movie queens felt empowered while they were being raped by dwarves, good for them.  

DVD: MACHETE MAIDEN UNLEASHED! is presented in 1.77:1 anamorphic widescreen with optional English language Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 audio with no subtitle. The film looks great, there's a smorgasborg of the film clips are of varying quality but it's a sharp looking, well edited film. Special features include an entertaining commentary from Hartley and crew discussing the creation of the film, getting access to the cast and crew of the films, and a ton of anecdotal tidbits that make this a necessary watch if you love the film. There's nearly an hour of deleted interviews with John Landis, Joe Dante and Alan Arkusch, Paul Koslo, Marlene Clark, Sid Haig, Darby Hinton and more. They must've been excised for time because these are great bits, including the aforementioned Marlene Clark midget-rape fiasco. There's a fun "The Oath of Green Blood" which is a bit of marketing schlock genius and some test footage of the rather unfortunate creature from UP FROM THE DEPTHS, some Fantastic Fest Q+A audio and a featurette, extensive stills, posters and behind-the-scenes galleries, a theatrical trailer and perhaps the second best feature on the set; a 65 mins 'Filipino Exploitation Trailer Reel' featuring trailers for many of the films featured in the film. The best feature on the set is an honest to goodness Filipino exploitation film directed by Cirio H. Santiago THE MUTHERS (1975) starring the kick-ass Jeannie Bell (TNT JACKSON) presented in 16x9 widescreen. It tells the story of a sea pirate going undercover in a prison camp/coffee plantation. It's a great flick with torture, kung-fu, jungle action, women-in prison elements, and of course, a shower scene and breasts galore. Note, this is the  first time THE MUTHERS has been available in 16x9 widescreen, it's fun stuff. Many thanks to Umbrella Entertainment for stuffing this set with interesting extras that compliment the feature presentation. 

DISC 1 Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Director and Crew
- More Stories from the Cast (55:49) 16:9
- Filipino Exploitation Trailer Reel (65:54) Letterboxed
- The Oath of Green Blood (1:148) 4:3 Letterboxed
- "Up From The Depths" Monster Test Footage (3:14) 4:3 Letterboxed
- Fantastic Fest Red Carpet Featurette (4:33) 4:3 Letterboxed
- Fantastic Fest Q+A with Roger and Julie Corman, Hartley and Tim League
- Poster and Stills Gallery (100 images)
- Behind the Scenes Gallery (100 images)
- Theatrical Trailer (2:35) 16:9
- Easter Egg: Trailer for RAW FORCE (1:58) 4:3 Letterboxed

DISC 2 Special Features:
-Cirio Santiago's THE MUTHERS (1974) presented in 16x9 Widescreen

Verdict: I came to this film with no knowledge of Philippine exploitation but I walked away with not just a great appreciation for the Filipino schlock of yore but a serious hunger to stuff my eyes with as many of 'em as I can, I would say feed my brain but bringing your brain to these films might prove detrimental. Definitely a fun, fast-paced film that I highly recommend to anyone who loves cult cinema, grindhouse, schlock, exploitation or just plain bad cinema - a MUST WATCH for genre cinema fans. The film has also reaffirmed my love of Joe Dante and John Landis, two genius filmmakers who's love of schlock is contagious. What's next for Hartley? No clue but I for one would like to see him tackle the Italian exploitation films, that would be quite brilliant, wouldn't you agree? 4 outta 5

Umbrella Entertainment's MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED! two-disc DVD can be ordered HERE.

For our Region 1 locked readers I will tell you that US distributor DARK SKY FILMS are releasing MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED! in North America in late July. No special features have been announced thus far. I'm not 100% sure but I do not believe the R1 DVD will include THE MUTHERS either, to which I say GET YOURSELF A REGION FREE DVD PLAYER - there's a world of cinema out there - don't limit your collection.

Arrow Video unleash deluxe editions of The Funhouse, Slaughter High and Kentucky Fried Movie in July

Arrow Video have announced the titles for release in July and it more of the same - pure awesomeness. It's been a banner year for the UK label with the launch of their classic cinema imprint Arrow Video releasing seminal cinema titles. May will see the release of Dario Argento's debut film The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) while Argento's early 80's shocker Tenebrae (1982) get a June release as does the Linda Blair revenge vehicle Savage Streets (1984) and Brian De Palma's dizzying thriller Obsession (1976). Mind you these are all deluxe editions with all-new special features, remastered and with newly commissioned artwork from the likes of Rick Melton and Tom Hodge.

Well, this magnificent streak of titles continues in July when we'll see deluxe editions of John Landis' madcap comedy Kentucky Fried Move scripted by The Zucker Brothers (Airplane, Top Secret), the stalk n' slash video classic Slaughter High (1986) and Tobe Hooper's criminally underrated slasher The Funhouse (1981). Again, these are all new deluxe edition with exclusive content, remastered picture and sound and some sweet artwork from Graham Humphreys . Being a slasher fan it is The Funhouse and Slaughter High that have me pumped but I do love me some Kentucky Fried Movie and it's a two-disc edition jammed with content.

 

THE KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE (1977) Blu-ray
Release Date: July 4th 2011

Audio: English subtitles for the hard of hearing
Region Code: Region 0 PAL
Rating: 15 Certificate
Duration: 85 mins
Director: John Landis
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Bill Bixby, Bong Soo Han
Tagline: A bargain bucket of classic comedy!


SYNOPSIS: Welcome to Kentucky Fried Movie, the Citizen Kane of bad taste, gross out, screwball movies. This is the film that birthed a thousand low rent comedies, a million playground quotes and brought the ancient mysteries of Kung Fu to the West in the awe inspiring mini-movie, A Fistful of Yen.


Hollywood legends The Zucker Brothers (Airplane, Top Secret) team up with John Landis (Ghostbusters, The Blues Brothers) for an adults-only comedy trip through the worlds of advertising, TV, movies and, of course... SEX!


THIS EDITION CONTAINS
- 4 panel reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork
- Double-sided fold-out artwork poster
- Collector’s booklet featuring a new interview with director John Landis and new writing on the film by critic and author Calum Waddell


DISC 1 CONTAINS:
- Feature presented in Widescreen 1.85:1 and Full Frame 1.33:1
- Original mono audio
- Original Trailer
- The audio recollections of director John Landis, writers Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and producer Robert K. Weiss


DISC 2 CONTAINS:
- A conversation with David and Jerry Zucker: A feature length interview with the co-creators of The Kentucky Fried Movie, Airplane and The Naked Gun about their lives and career, from growing up and starting out in show business to their comedy influences and spoofing Midnight Cowboy!
- Jerry Zucker’s on-set Home Video shot during the making of the movie
- Behind-the-scenes photo gallery
- Original art by Graham Humphreys – http://www.grahamhumphreys.com/
- Subtitles: English, Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish

SLAUGHTER HIGH (1986) DVD
Release Date: July 11th 2011


Audio: English subtitles for the hard of hearing
Region Code: Region 0 PAL
Rating: TBA
Duration: 87 mins
Director: George Dugdale, Mark Ezra, Peter Litten
Starring: Caroline Munro, Simon Scuddamore, Carmine Iannaccone
Tagline: For Marty, School Days were the worst days of his life...




SYNOPSIS: When the alumni of an all-American high school make a trip to attend a class reunion, they reconnect with their pasts in ways more bloody and fatal than they could possibly imagine in the 80s slasher classic Slaughter High.


On arrival, they discover the school shuttered and in disrepair, as if the reunion were just a ruse to drag them back. Still, the old pupils decide to break in and celebrate anyway. A deadly error considering that Marty, the nerd whose teenage life they made a living hell, is lurking in the dank, dark corridors, waiting to bring fear, torment and slicing, dicing murder to each and every one of them.


A Stalk ‘n’ Slash video store classic from the golden era of bottom shelf horror starring scream queen Caroline Munro (Maniac, The Last Horror Film).


THIS EDITION CONTAINS
- Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork
- Double-sided fold-out artwork poster
- Collector’s booklet featuring brand new writing on the film by author Troy Howarth


SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Available on DVD for the first time in the UK!
- Introduction by co-writer/ co-director Mark Ezra
- Jesters and Jolts: Interview with co-writer/co-director Mark Ezra
- Lamb to the Slaughter: The Scream Queen Career of Caroline Munro
- Audio Commentary with star Caroline Munro, DVD World editor Allan Bryce and author and critic Calum Waddell
- Audio Commentary with co-writer/ co-director Mark Ezra moderated by Teenage Wasteland author J. A. Kerswell
- Original art by Graham Humphreys http://www.grahamhumphreys.com/

THE FUNHOUSE (1981) Blu-ray
Release Date: July 18th 2011


Audio: English subtitles for the hard of hearing
Region Code: ABC
Rating: 15 Certificate
Duration: 95 mins
Director: Tobe Hooper
Starring: Elizabeth Berridge, Shawn Carson, Miles Chapin, Jeanne Austin, Jack McDermott
Tagline: Something is alive in The Funhouse!


SYNOPSIS: The carnival is a place for fun and laughter, but not for Amy and her friends. When their childish dare to stay all night in the spooky funhouse backfires, it leaves a trail of dismembered teenagers a mile long in Tobe Hooper’s classic video nasty era slasher.


Will anyone escape the clutches of the stumbling madman that stalks to sideshow? Is there no end to the carnival barkers chilling sadism? The only way to find out is ascend into the funhouse, where the games have no rules and the only prize on offer is a grisly demise.


Join us in The Funhouse. So much fun that you’ll never leave...Alive!


THIS BLU-RAY EDITION CONTAINS:
- Brand new transfer of the film in glorious High Definition (1080p)
- 4 panel reversible sleeve options with original and newly commissioned artwork
- Double-sided fold-out artwork poster
- Collector’s booklet featuring brand new writing on the film by critic and author Kim Newman.


SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Audio commentary with The Funhouse S/FX wizard Craig Reardon and Jeffrey Reddick (creator of The Final Destination series)
- Audio commentary with producer Derek Power and genre scholar Howard S. Berger
- Audio commentary with Justin Kerswell, author of ‘Teenage Wasteland’ and host of the slasher cinema website Hysteria Lives, and author Calum Waddell
- Stuck in the Funhouse with director Tobe Hooper
- Carnage at the Carnival: Tobe Hooper Remembers ‘The Funhouse’
- Miles of Mayhem: Acting in Tobe’s Funhouse with star Miles Chapin
- A Trilogy of Terror: The Make-up Madness of Craig Reardon, the S/FX wizard recollects his collaborations with Tobe Hooper; ‘Eaten Alive’, ‘Poltergeist’ and ‘The Funhouse’
- Master Class of Horror: Mick Garris, the director of Sleepwalkers and The Shining reflects on the crimson-covered career of his longtime colleague
- Live Q&A with Tobe Hooper from San Francisco
- Never before seen behind the scenes photographs from the collection of Craig Reardon