New on Blu-ray and DVD for May 26, 2020
John Connor [Celluloid 05.27.20] scifi horror action thriller samurai adventure
Snake is back! Kurt Russell rejoins filmmakers John Carpenter and Debra Hill to do to Los Angeles what they did to the Big Apple in Escape From New York – with even more futuristic thrills and big action! Into the 9.6-quaked Los Angeles of 2013 comes Snake Plissken (Russell).
His job: wade through L.A.’s ruined landmarks to retrieve a doomsday device. Don’t miss the excitement as Snake surfs Wilshire Blvd., shoots hoops at the Coliseum, dive bombs the Happy Kingdom theme park, and mixes it up with a wild assortment of friends and foes including Stacy Keach, Steve Buscemi, Bruce Campbell, Peter Fonda, George Corraface, Cliff Robertson and Pam Grier. Escape From L.A. is a “go-for-broke action extravaganza” (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times)!
Master filmmaker Sidney Lumet (The Verdict, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico) delivers “one of his greatest achievements” (Roger Ebert) with this riveting and compelling suspense thriller.
Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) is Andy, an overextended payroll executive who lures his younger brother, Hank (Ethan Hawke, Training Day), into a larcenous scheme: the pair will rob a suburban mom-and-pop jewelry store that appears to be the quintessential easy target. The problem is, the store owners are Andy and Hank’s real mom and pop, and when the seemingly perfect crime goes awry, the damage sends them hurtling toward a shattering clash that may obliterate their already precarious lives.
Winner of 5 Academy Awards – Including 1978 Best Picture One of AFI’s Top 100 Films of All Time, The Deer Hunter follows a group of Pennsylvania steelworkers from their blue-collar lives, hunting in the woods of the Alleghenies, to the hell of Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. Academy Award winners Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken star in this unforgettable saga of friendship and courage. Experience the brutality of war and the depths of emotional strain on the human spirit in this extraordinarily powerful film classic.
A young bride-to-be s anxieties over her upcoming wedding take on a horrifying, demonic form in this underseen 1988 rubber reality shocker from director/co-writer Harley Cokeliss (Black Moon Rising), starring Timothy Spall and Jemma Redgrave.
As her marriage to decorated war hero Oliver draws near, well-heeled Diana moves into her sprawling new London home where she starts to experience strange and terrifying nightmares. But are these blood-curdling night terrors merely the symptom of an unsettled mind, or the sign of something far sinister at work? Hounded by a pair of sleazy journalists (Timothy Spall and Jimmy Nail), Diana soon crosses paths with American tourist Jenny, who appears to have a strange connection to the foreboding house and its sinister past.
Long dormant on home media since its original VHS release, Dream Demon – a terrific blend of psychological horror and late 80s practical gore effects – has at long-last been stirred from its analogue slumber and arrives on Blu-ray, newly-restored from the original camera negative and in a brand new Director s Cut!This compilation of five early short films by Martin Scorsese offers a fascinating window onto his artistic development. Spanning the years from Scorsese’s time at NYU in the mid-1960s to the late ’70s, when he was emerging as one of the era’s most electrifying talents, Scorsese Shorts centers on the intimate home movie Italianamerican—a loving snapshot of the director’s parents—and American Boy, a freewheeling portrait of a larger-than-life raconteur.
Also included are The Big Shave, a daringly visceral response to America’s involvement in Vietnam, and the bracing student films What’s a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This? and It’s Not Just You, Murray!
Touching on many of Scorsese’s key themes—Italian American identity, family, his beloved New York City—these are hilarious, candid, and illuminating works from the preeminent American filmmaker of our time.
First time on Blu-ray! Tempe Entertainment is proud to present a feature-length documentary on the making of the seminal horror classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, produced with the cooperation of the film’s producers, Image Ten. Gathered together for the first time in twenty-five years are director George A. Romero, co-writer John A. Russo, and producers Russell W. Streiner and Karl Hardman, who come together for a once-in-a-lifetime roundtable discussion on the making of the film and its impact in the decades since first release.
Supplementing this material are interviews with Hardman and partner Marilyn Eastman on the film’s unique makeup, music and sound effects, plus celebrity filmmakers Wes Craven (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET), Sam Raimi (THE EVIL DEAD), Tobe Hooper (THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE), John Landis (AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON), and others who were inspired by this legendary classic.
Originally released in 1993 as NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 25th ANNIVERSARY DOCUMENTARY, this edition has been fully remastered from the original standard-definition source material and includes an all-new interview with actress Judith O’Dea!
It is written that the son of Thorn will put an end to the tragic dynasty of the Spider. Thus, the Grand Priest of The Spider orders the slaughter of the newborn son. However, the old Griba hides the newborn safe from the slaughter, and he grows up strong and brave with his adoptive parents.
Miles O’Keeffe (Tarzan The Ape Man) is Ator, son of Thorn. He falls in love with Sunya (Ritza Brown), whom he believes to be his sister. When finally the truth is revealed that Ator was adopted, he gains the approval for the marriage. But on their wedding day, the Black Knights, guards of the Grand Priest, begin a massacre in Ator’s village as they search for old Griba and they kidnap Sunya, the bride. Ator must then begin his long, perilous journey towards the Temple of the Spider. On his way he learns the secrets of martial arts and befriends Roon (Sabrina Siani), a thief Amazon who joins Ator on the journey to the temple. Together they conquer danger after danger.
The action and adventure continues when Ator and Roon arrive at the Temple as Ator must rescue Sunya and fulfill the prophecy by killing the huge monstrous animal that is the Spider.