CHILDREN OF THE CORN (1984) (Arrow Video Blu-ray Review)

CHILDREN OF THE CORN (1984) 

Label: Arrow Video
Region Code: A
Duration: 82 Minutes 
Rating: R
Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Stereo, English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Fritz Kiersch
Cast: Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, R.G. Armstrong, Julie Maddalena, John Philbin, John Franklin, Courtney Gains 

Eighties killer-kiddie classic Children of the Corn (1984) scared the living Hell out of  me when I caught in my pre-teens on VHS. I grew up in a very rural area in Upstate New York with plenty of corn fields around me, so the idea of a dark Lovecraftian force known as "He Who Walks Behind the Rows" who spurred children to kill the adults really burrowed down into my psyche and imagination in a big, bad way. Even as a kid I found the idea of kids killing all the adults rather frightening, and while the movie affects me differently now three decades later as a father and, somewhat arguably, an adult, I think this one holds up mighty finely. 

The film opens on a Sunday morning in the small town Gatlin, the

adults are gathered at the local diner for their usual post-sermon breakfast when the kids rise up and massacre every last one them while creepy kid cult-leader Isaac (John Franklin, The Addam's Family) peers through the window. We get some decent carnage as the kids poison the coffee pot, hacking and slashing the adults and slicing off the proprietor of the diner's hand in a meat slicer! Now, the carnage is mostly relegated to splashes of blood but I love it when the kid with the milkshake mustache catches a face full of the red stuff! 

Three years later young couple Vicky (Linda Hamilton, Terminator) and her boyfriend Burt (Peter Horton, TV's Thirtysomething) are travelling through rural Nebraska when a young boy emerges from the corn field right into the path of their car. They put him in the car and drive into the nearby town of Gatlin, which at first seems deserted, but soon enough they discover the kiddie-only inhabitants are nothing to be trifled with, as creepy cult-leader Isaac and his evil-ginger sidekick Malachi (Courtney Joiner, The 'Burbs) capture Vicky and put her on a crucifix made of corn, to be sacrificed to their Lovecraftian lord, He who Walks Behind the Rows. 

Based on the Stephen King short story "Disciples of the Crow," this is probably the first King adaptation I saw as a kid, it was chilling to me as a kid, though now I can see it for the somewhat problematic thing that it is, padded for time to stretch the short-subject source material, adding a young girl with clairvoyant visions, but that the creepy kid cult-leader as played by John Franklin (who was 24 when he made this) still manages to make my skin crawl with his eerie sermons and odd demeanor, he has an evil precociousness that I find chilling. Then we have Malachi, whom develops a feud with Isaac over the proper way to worship their dark Lord, culminating in some treachery. 

The finale is fun piece of work, both frantic, frightful and field-burning, but the visual effects might be a bit problematic for those who weren't raised on this vintage slice of horror - they do not really stand-up to the test of time, but the scenes of He Who Walks Behind The Rows burrowing beneath the surface of the ground and the way it displaces the dirt looks very cool, and the fireball is wonderful.  To this day I cannot pass a corn field and think of this film, it's left it's mark on me for sure, a testament to the iconic nature of this one. 

Audio/Video: The Children of the Corn (1984) arrives on Blu-ray from Arrow Video befitting from a new 2K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative. Right away you see the improvement, this is a step up from my 2009 25th Anniversary Blu-ray from Anchor Bay by a large margin, he film grain seems better resolved and more textured, looking more natural. Colors have more life and you can see a new color timing has been done, not sure if this is more accurate to the theatrical run but to my eyes it looks superior to the previous Blu-ray. Audio on the disc comes by way of an English LPCM 2.0 or DTS-HD MA 5.1, I prefer the stereo track, which has more presence and power to my ears, optional English subtitles are provided. 

Arrow Video carry over all the extras from the 2009 Anchor Bay Blu-ray (minus the trivial trivia track) which were produced by Red Shirt Pictures, and kindly offer-up a handful more new ones to make this the definitive edition of the movie. There's a brand new commentary from with John Sullivan of www.childrenofthecornmovie.com and horror journalist Justin Beahm, and Sullivan shows up again for a 16-min location revisit showcasing the filming locations current day.

Screenwriter George Goldsmith shows up for an interview talking about his early career as a small town investigative reporter before dropping that for screenwriting, working on Master of Kung Fu TV series and Force Five, and adapting the work of Stephen King. another cool extra is the short film "Disciples of the Crow" (1983), which is one of the infamous "dollar baby" King adaptations, this one coming out a year before the feature length movie. There are  also over fifty minutes of new interviews with Actors Julie Maddalena and John Philbin (Return of the Living Dead), all in you're looking at over three hours of extras and that's before you get two the two feature length audio commentaries! 

For the sake of this review Arrow Video sent "check disc" without any of the cool packaging or artwork, so I'll share these pack shots from Arrow Facebook page - this is a cool looking release with a sleeve of reversible artwork, reversible poster, and booklet:

Special Features: 
- Brand new 2K restoration from the original negative
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- NEW: Brand new audio commentary with John Sullivan of www.childrenofthecornmovie.com and horror journalist Justin Beahm
- NEW: Return to Gatlin - A brand new featurette revisiting the film's original Iowa shooting locations with John Sullivan of www.childrenofthecornmovie.com  (16 min) 
- NEW: A Field of Nightmare - A brand New interview with Screenwriter George Goldsmith (17 min) HD 

- NEW: ...And The Corn Shall Lead Them - A Brand new interview with Actors Julie Maddalena and John Philbin (52 min) HD 
- Stephen King on a Shoestring - an interview with producer Donald Borchers (11 min) HD 
- Audio commentary with director Fritz Kiersch, producer Terrence Kirby and actors John Franklin and Courtney Gains
- Harvesting Horror - The Making of Children of the Corn - retrospective piece featuring interviews with director Fritz Kiersch and actors John Franklin and Courtney Gains (61 min) 
- It Was the Eighties! - an interview with actress Linda Hamilton (14 min) 
- Welcome to Gatlin - The Sights and Sounds of Children of the Corn, an interview with production designer Craig Stearns and composer Jonathan Elias (15 min) 
- Cut From the Corn - an interview with the actor who played "The Blue Man" in the fabled excised sequence (6 min) 
- Theatrical Trailer (1 min) HD 
- Storyboard Gallery (6 min) HD 
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin
- Short Film:  Disciples of the Crow (1983): Originally shot as Children of the Corn, this short film adaptation of the eponymous Stephen King Story was made one year before the 1984 feature version of the version  (19 Minutes) HD 
- First Pressing: Collectors booklet featuring new writing in the film.


Children of the Corn (1984) still works it's 80s killer-kids magic all these years later, a testament to both Stephen King's original story and  to the direction of Fritz Kiersch, this is a film that will be scaring audiences for years to come. Arrow Video have gone deep behind the rows of corn to unearth some awesome extras this release, on top of that the A/V presentation is gorgeous, making this easily the definitive version of the film on home video - for fans and newcomers this is the one to own. 

THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE (1970) (Blu-ray Review)

THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE (1970)

Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 121 Minutes
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 with Optional English SDH Director: Sam Peckinpah
Cast: Jason Robards, Stella Stevens, David Warner, Strother Martin, Slim Pickens, L.Q. Jones, Peter Whitney, R.G. Armstrong, Gene Evans, William Mims, Kathleen Freeman, Susan O'Connell, Vaughn Taylor, Max Evans, James Anderson1.

It's 1908, a trio of grubby desert rats are scouring the Western frontier looking for a water source, we have Cable Hogue (Jason Robards, Something Wicked This Way Comes), Taggart (L.Q. Jones, A Boy and His Dog) and the dim-witted Bowen (Strother Martin, The Brotherhood of Satan). Water rations are running low for the weary trio and Hogue's desperate partners turn on him, taking his share of the water and abandoning him for vulture meat. He wanders the desert lost and alone for days, parched, blistered and weary from dehydration he falls to the ground during a particularly nasty dust storm, leaving his fate in the hands of the Lord, only to find a natural water spring bubbling up to the surface right below his feet. 

Discovering that his new found spring is the the only watering spot on the forty-mile stretch of road between the towns of Gila and Dead Dog, he manages to scrape up a few bucks to purchase the 2 acres of land around it, and immediately begins to set-up a humble looking roadside watering hole called Cable Springs. The plan is to sell water to stagecoach passersby for 10 cents a head, only his first customer doesn't want to pay, though he does in the end, with his life. His second customer, and first to pay (though reluctantly) is a wandering man of the Lord, the lustful Rev. Joshua Duncan Sloane (David Warner, Time After Time) who is part man of the cloth, and part unrepentant sinner, and the two men strike up an uneasy friendship. 

On a supply run into Dead Dog Cable runs into Hildy (Stella Stevens, Chained Heat), the town whore, a busty blond eyeful who stops him dead in his tracks, and the two begin a quirky courtship of sorts. What follows is a quirky love story between Cable and Hildy, and also the story of how a penniless man embodied the American dream, finding water where there wasn't any to find, prospering, and also a tale of revenge. Eventually the two men who double-crossed him return, there's some revenge, but the outcome is not your standard old west revenger.

The Ballad of Cable Hogue is the story of a man who pulled himself up by the bootstraps and made a name for himself in the middle of nowhere with almost nothing, it's almost a character study more than a Western, and maybe that's why it flopped when it was initially released, it's not the usual western, it's wasn't even what you would call a new western, it was different, and that's probably why it still resonates today. Robards in in good company with his co-stars, his friendship with Joshua is fun, the preacher has an overactive libido, he's not too trustworthy, and it seems no vulnerable woman is safe from his lecherous advances in the name of the Lord, and while he and Hogue are at odds now and again, somehow the friendship remains true right up till the very end, capped off with a striking eulogy. Hogue's infatuation with the town prostitute offers plenty of comedy and more than a few well-deserved tugs on the old heartstrings, the movie is almost as poignant as it is funny, at a certain point their relationship seems cemented and bound, but some poorly thought words over the dinner table throws it all into disarray in a heartbeat, it's such an effective scene you can see both their thoughts written across their faces. 

The dusty Western locations look great, with attractive cinematography and some novel editing tricks, we get split screen and sped-up cameras which give a few comedic moments a bit of vaudeville zing, perhaps even a bit too silly for some tastes, but it works, though I must say that the humor is not something I expected in such abundance my first go round with this movie, it's more a comedic fable than a western, especially at the end when the the invention of the gas powered motorcar threaten to doom Cable's watering hole, he's sees the change coming, but still somehow manages to get thrown under it's wheels. 

Memorable scenes abound, from Cable refusing to pay Hildy, the hooker with heart of gold, for her services, what transpires is a comedy of errors with Hildy launching a porcelain wash basin off her balcony, aiming for his head, but he ends up bringing down a tent full of church goers who are none too pleased, running Cable out of town. I also loved his revenge against the duplicitous duo who left him for dead, they find themselves in a pit while Cable throws  in rattlers! But there's more to it, there's a certain revenge but there's also forgiveness and compassion, which was unexpected.  

Aside from the fantastic main cast the movie is loaded with memorable western faces in supporting roles, Slim Pickens (1941) shows up as a stagecoach driver, Peter Whitney (The Rough Riders) as a banker who finances Cable's watering hole, R.G. Armstrong (The Car) as the proprietor of the stage coach company, and the previously mentioned L.Q. Jones and Strother Martin, both of whom featured in Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch. 

Audio/Video: Warner Archive step up to the plate with another Peckinpah platter with The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)after their handsome release of Ride The High Country (1962), presented in the 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio with a freshly minted 2017 2K scan from the interpositive. The Lucian Ballard (The Wild Bunch) cinematography looks fantastic, full of dust and grit, the colors are mostly earth tone and not too colorful, with just a few exceptions at the whorehouse and some later scenes, but the colors look accurate, nicely saturated and the grain structure looks tight. There's an abundance of pleasing detail to the image within the period dressing and clothing textures, Hogue's face is nicely rendered, a dusty and whiskered face full of character. The disc has an English DTS-HD MA Mono audio track, the desert sounds come through authentically and well-balanced, the score from Jerry Goldsmith (The Omen) suits the poignant Western romantic comedy, as do the songs of Richard Gillis. At times the movie turns into a musical of sorts with both Cable and Hildy launching into folksy song at one point. Optional English subtitles are provided. 

Onto the extras Warner have ported over all the extras from their 2006 DVD edition, we have the commentary from Twilight Time's Nick Redman, and Peckinpah scholars Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons and David Weddle. It's a nice appreciation of the director and of the film, commenting on the various themes and on the music, cinematography and cast and crew. There's also a vintage 27-min interview with star Stella Stevens, speaking about her early career in the studio system and working with Peckinpah, she's very upfront on her feelings for the man, she speaks more fondly of Jason Robards. we also get a three-minute HD trailer for the film. 

Special Features: 
- Commentary by Nick Redman, Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons and David Weddle
- Featurette The Ladiest Damn'd Lady: An Afternoon with Stella Stevens (27 min) 
- Theatrical Trailer (3 min) HD

The more I watch The Ballad of Cable Hogue the higher it ascends as my favorite Peckinpah movie, which may have something to do with my own advancement in age. In my 20s I was drawn to the bloody violence of The Wild Bunch and the visceral machismo of Straw Dogs, but this comedic Western fable of a desert rat turned scrappy entrepreneur with it's quirky love story keeps winning me over, again and again, and the new HD presentation from WAC is wonderful, highly recommended.

RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY (1962) (Blu-ray Review)

 

RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY (1962) 

Label: Warner Archive Collection
Duration: 94 minutes
Region Code: All Regions
Rating: Unrated: 
Audio: English DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Cast: Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, Mariette Hartley, Ronald Starr, Edgar Buchanan, James Drury, Warren Oates. L.Q. Jones, R.G. Armstrong

In Sam Peckinpah's Ride The High Country (1962) we have aging lawman Steve Judd (Joel McCrea, Foreign Correspondent) at the turn of the 20th century, man on horses are giving way to the horseless carriage, and the remnants of old west are evaporating fast. Judd is in the process of signing on for work with a bank, hired onto guard a shipment of gold from the Coarse Gold mining camp in the Sierra Nevada's back to the bank in Hornitos, California. The job is dangerous, numerous men have died doing it, but the bankers don't think too much of the legendary lawman, who has seen better days, in fact he has to hide the fact that he needs reading glasses when reviewing the contract with the bankers, excusing himself to the bathroom to read it in private, it's sort of funny, and there's a lot of humor mixed into this movie. 

Finally offered the job Judd hires on an old gunslinger pal named Gil Westrum (Randolph Scott, Seven Men from Now) who has been working in a carnival sideshow attraction as “The Oregon Kid,”. The two past-their-prime gunslinger have both seen better days. Gil brings along his younger, hot-headed, sidekick Heck Longtree (Ron Starr) - love that name - on the job, and the three men set in the direction of Coarse Gold. But, unbeknownst to Judd the two men plan to double-cross him, and make off with the quarter million dollars in gold for themselves, unless they can convince the stoic, but well-worn, former lawman to swindle the bankers, too. 


They trio stop off along the way at a ranch run by uber-religious Joshua Knudsen (R.G. Armstrong, The Car) who lives with his attractive and rambunctious teenage daughter Elsa Knudsen (Mariette Hartley, The Return of Count Yorga), who is stifled by the strict upbringing by her father. She ends up running off with the trio of hired gunslingers, joining them on their trip to Coarse Gold, where she hopes to rekindle a romance with a young man named Billy Hammond (James Drury, TVs The Virginian) who once proposed to her, which doesn't turn out well for anyone. 

Peckinpah has always done well with stories about men who a bit out of time, a bit past their prime, and drawn into dangerous situations, and that was even true on this, his second film. McCrea and Scott are fantastic, veterans of countless Westerns, men of grit and presence, whose very appearance lends credibility to the film, but I have to admit, I have never been a huge fan of the American westerns. As a kid I hated them, it wasn't until I caught the wild Italian pasta-westerns of Sergio Leone (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly) and Sergio Corbucci (Django) that I came around to tales from the old west, mostly because I loved the lurid and violent ways and the keen cinematography, but to this day I don't much care for the John Ford (The Searchers) westerns of the films of John Wayne (True Grit), but I have come around to the movies of Sam Peckinpah, beginning with The Wild Bunch years ago, so it was a treat to dig into this revisionist western, even if it lacked the visceral punch of Peckinpah's later films. 

Back to the film, the gold shipment begins to take a backseat to the story about two aged lawmen, their codes of honor, and the betrayal, that's the real meat of the story. There's an impromptu marriage in Coarse Gold between her and her Billy Hammond, with a wonderfully demented exchange of vows overseen by drunk Judge Tolliver (Edgar Buchanan) who offers the most downer of warnings to the newlyweds. It turns out that Billy has an assortment of brothers,  they're a lecherous bunch, among them character actors Warren Oates (Race with the Devil)and L.Q. Jones (The Brotherhood of Satan), a slimy clan who at one point seem to threaten to gang-rape the poor girl!

The sex and violence is toned way down, particularly considering what would come from Peckinpah in later years, but the movie thrives on the honorable grit of McCrae and Scott, the latter of whom is not so honorable, but the finale buttons things up nicely, with Scott getting his wish to "enter my House justified.", both men facing the threat of death with old west dignity. 

Audio/Video: Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country (1962) arrives on Blu-ray from the venerable Warner archive, benefitting from a new 2K scan from a recent interpositive and the results are very nice. Colors are vibrant, the big blue sky and green tree lines look great. Grain is nicely resolved, fine detail is abundant, and the Lucien Ballard (The Wild Bunch) CinemaScope lensing looks phenomenal. While this is not the most colorful western, every once in awhile we do get some nice splashes of color, particularly during a visit to a local whorehouse. The one mark against it, the opening title credit sequence is window boxed for some odd reason, but I don't think that it's a deal breaker as the remainder of the film looks wonderful, but it is unfortunate.  

The English DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 Mono track sounds good, crisp, clean and while not overly dynamic, the movie is over fifty years old, it does the job and his free of any distortion, and the George Bassman score sounds great, even in mono. Optional English subtitles are included. 

Warner Archive bring over all the extras from ther 2006 DVD, beginning with the audio commentary with Peckinpah documentarians Nick Redman, Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons and David Weddle. Nick Redman of Twilight Tie moderates, and this is a char filled to the brim with Peckinpah, if you're a fan of the director this is a mandatory listen There's also a 22-min interview with Peckinpah's younger sister, Fern Lea Peter, who recounts what it was like in the Peckinpah household when they were young, a few of her older siblings youthful behaviour and speaking a bit about his entry into the Marines, film school, and what drove her and Sam apart at one point in their adult lives. There's also a 3-min trailer for the movie included, which pales in comparison to the new 2K transfer, it makes for a nice comparison. 

Special Features:
- Commentary by Peckinpah documentarians Nick Redman, Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons and David Weddle
- Documentary: A Justified Life: Sam Peckinpah and the Hogue Country (22 min)(SD)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (3 min)(HD) 

Ride the High Country (1962) is a classic American western, it lacks the visceral punch of later Peckinpah films but is a solid character-driven slice of Americana, featuring two legendary actors giving wonderful performances as a pair of gunslingers past their prime, fighting to hang onto their honor, sometimes straying along the way. This Blu-ray from Warner Archive looks phenomenal, definitely worth the upgrade! 3/5 

THE CAR (1977) (Scream Factory Blu-ray Review)

THE CAR (1977) 

Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: PG
Duration: 97 Minutes
Audio: English, DTS-HD MA 5.1, DTS-HD 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Elliot Silverstein
Cast: Elizabeth Thompson, James Brolin, Doris Dowling, John Marley, John Rubinstein, Kathleen Lloyd, Kim Richards, Kyle Richards, R.G. Armstrong, Ronny Cox, Dennis Shryack

Synopsis: Fasten your seatbelts for the terrifying thrill ride that has become a cult classic! The peaceful tranquility of a small Western town is disturbed when a murderous car wreaks havoc by viciously mowing down innocent victims. The new sheriff, Wade Parent (James Brolin, The Amityville Horror), may be the only one who can stop this menace in its tracks. But what Wade Parent doesn't realize is that the driver of this indestructible vehicle is far more dangerous than any man... because it is driven by pure evil.

I have always loved this movie, a classic Jaws knock-off full of piss and vinegar, in it we have a souped up black car menacing a small desert town without any sort of rhyme or reason to it. It emerges from the desert with a plume of dust behind it, the first victims are young lovers on a bicycle ride whom are run off the road by the menacing black car. The next to taste it's wrath is a horn-playing hitchhiker who is viciously run over again and again. The local cops don't know what's happening but when the sheriff (John Marley, Deathdream) is run down in the street Deputy Wade Parent (James Brolin) is out for vengeance

While the titular car is not explained in anyway shape or form it does have a demonic presence about it, a nameless killer with no motive, no other explanation is necessary. Occasionally we get some yellow-tinted POV shots from inside the car through the windshield, it ominously blasts its nerve-shattering horn when it's on the prowl for victims. The 1971 Lincoln Continental Mark III black coupe was modified by the legendary George Barris and it is a thing of menacing beauty, the exaggerated front bumpers and bumper forming an evil face and it sounds terrific when it revs up the engine and those open pipes let loose the fury, sweet stuff. 

There's not a great deal of deaths but they are set-up nicely, though most are bloodless affairs with no actual car to victim contact, you never do see the car hit anyone, shot with some clever editing it does the trick nicely. In one of the more memorable scenes the car actually tears straight through a house to tag one of the victims, and most will remember the scene of the car menacing a group of middle school band members who are chased into a cemetery, it's a bit on the corny side of things but it works fro me time and time again, I love it. 

The movie is populated with some decent small town characters, we have a wonderfully moustached James Brolin (The Amityville Horror) bringing some nice intensity to his role as the determined Deputy. TV actress Kathleen Lloyd brings a lot of spunk to her role as Laura, the girlfriend of Brolin's character. She has some great energy and brings a palpable sense of fear to the movie, she's also a victim of one of the most memorable death scenes in the movie. Another familiar face is that of R. G. Armstrong (Evilspeak) as a curmudgeonly wife-beater, who might seem an unlikely hero but he's pretty handy with a stick of dynamite. 

TV director Elliot Silverstein does a great job ratcheting up the tension on this one with some fun gimmicks to enhance the mood of the movie, it's not a flashy production but it does the job nicely. Why this demonic-car chooses this sleepy desert town to  terrorize is never answered but the desert locations make for a great backdrop to the movie, it also isolates the characters to a degree, making this a fun watch.

Audio/Video: The Blu-ray from Scream Factory looks and sounds great, the 1080p HD transfer presents the movie in the proper scope aspect ratio. I have the Region B Blu-ray from Arrow Video and comparing the two they look like they may have been sourced from the same Universal HD source, they're very close in appearance, with the Scream Factory Blu looking a tad brighter in certain spots. The grain has been nicely managed offering a crisp and clean image with some nice depth and clarity, this look great. Audio options include the choice of English DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0 or DTS-HD Surround 5.1 with optional English subtitles. There's some good meaty depth to the surround sound, when the car revs the engine you can feel the bass kick in and that ominous horn from the car sounds menacing. 

Onto the special features we have new interviews with Producer/Director Elliot Silverstein and Actresses Geraldine Keams and Melody Thomas Scott. They're short but informative and loaded with some great info, director Silverstein seems overly apologetic about the movie, apparently not a fan of his own movie, pointing out numerous times that it was a Jaws knock-off. I grew up watching actress Melody Thomas Scott as the character Nikii Newman on the soap opera The Young and the Restless, she is only in the movie for a few fleeting moments but I loved seeing her here, still a cutey! There's also a selection of trailers, TV and radio spots, plus a gallery of images from the movie. 

The Arrow Blu-ray has a leg up on this release in my opinion, with a very similar technical presentation, but they push it over the edge with a more robust set of a extras, beginning with an audio commentary with director Elliot Silverstein. They also have a half-hour interview with  Special Effects Artist William Alridge, a ten-minute interview with actor John Rubinstein who played the unfortunate hitchhiker, plus the Trailer From Hell commentary with John Landis, plus a hidden away Easter Egg, an interview with Elliot Silverstein. Arrow als offer a reversible sleeve of artwork plus a 40 page booklet with new writing on the film from Cullen Gallgher and an interview with co-writer Michael Butler. 

Scream Factory's new Blu-ray is great, but I will say that if you are a serious collector with a NEED for the most complete package available I do give the edge to the Arrow Blu-ray - which is Region B locked - but if you're just looking to chill with a fun movie and aren't concerned with extras the Scream Factory release has the marginally more pleasing A/V presentation and a fine set of extras.  

Special Features:
- NEW Mystery Of The Car – Interview With Producer/Director Elliot Silverstein (9 Mins) HD
- NEW The Navajo Connection – Interview With Actress Geraldine Keams (12 Mins) HD
- NEW Just Like Riding A Bike - Interview With Actress Melody Thomas Scott (12 Mins) HD
- Theatrical Trailer (2 Mins)
- TV Spot (1 Mins)
- Radio Spots (3 Mins) HD
- Still Gallery (125 Images) HD

Often described as 'Jaws on land' the description is both apt and short shrift in my opinion, The Car is a wildly entertaining slice of '70s b-movie cinema. It may not get the accolades of Steven Spielberg's Duel (1971) or John Carpenter's Christine (1983) but it has made a mark on popular culture, if you need proof just watch the were-car episode of Futurama. 3.5/5