The 1962 Hammer horror film, Night Creatures, has finally arrived on a special edition Blu-ray, courtesy of the good folks at Shout Factory! 

Night Creatures (aka Captain Clegg) is not at all what you’d expect from the original poster or Blu-ray artwork. It is, in fact, a thriller that harbors several jaw-dropping twists and more than enough bitchy dialogue to keep you entertained for the duration.

The film stars Peter Cushing and Oliver Reed and concerns a small town full of villagers that have been suspected of smuggling alcohol from France. A man named captain Collier arrives with a group of sailors to investigate the strange goings-on, only to get caught up in the mystery surrounding the local pastor, the cagey townsfolk, and the ghostly “night creatures” which haunt the local marsh. 

​What we have here is a strange hybrid of action/adventure, pirate film, and ghost story. And it all works surprisingly well! I had a great time with this film. Fans of Shout Factory’s output and Hammer horror films will find much to enjoy here! 

The picture looks incredible, the film sounds amazing. You can tell that lots of detail went in to preparing the print and sound mix for this release. Several special features are also included that will certainly please fans of the film. 

Highly recommended!

Shout Factory has recently released the 2001 remake of William Castle's Thirteen Ghosts on a collector's edition Blu-ray. 

In 2001, Steve Beck - in collaboration with Robert Zemekis and Joel Silver's Dark Castle Entertainment - directed a remake of William Castle's gimmicky classic, 13 Ghosts. Starring Matthew Lillard, Tony Shalhoub, F. Murray Abraham, Embeth Davidtz, and Shannon Elizabeth, this remake - much like the 1999 reboot of House on Haunted Hill - boasted its large budget by turning the material into a showcase for flashy special effects and campy B-movie shenanigans. 

There are three elements here that keep this remake from completely sinking, and they are Matthew Lillard, the character designs of the ghosts, and the set design, the latter of which is absolutely breathtaking. The story - about a family that inherits a literal glass house full of spirits - is as forgettable as they come. It is missing the charm that made the House on Haunted Hill remake so much fun, and turns out to be nothing more than an occasionally pretty mess with a standout performance from Lillard. 

The Blu-ray from Shout Factory should please fans, however, as it is packed to the gills with special features. The film itself has been beautifully restored, as well. If you are a fan, be sure to grab one! 

Shout Factory has brought the 1971 horror cult classic, Let's Scare Jessica To Death, to Blu-ray!

When Jessica, a psychologically fragile woman, leaves the mental institution, she heads off to an old farmhouse with her husband and a friend of theirs to start her life over again. One night, they take in a gorgeous and mysterious drifter, sing songs, and decide to have a seance. 

After the seance, Jessica begins to see and hear things which may or m​ay not be occurring. Her visions and hallucinations lead her to believe that the beautiful young drifter may be a vampire. 

Director John Hancock does an incredible job of balancing tension and atmosphere. This is a film that thrives on atmosphere and the rich characterization of Jessica - played here by Zohra Lampert - and it never fails to bring chills. 

This is one of the classic horror films of the seventies - one that has gained a well-deserved cult following over the years. The Blu-ray is fantastic - it is a gorgeous transfer, looking better than the film ever has. 

Special features include an audio commentary with the director and producer, an interview with the score composer, an interview with film historian, Kim Newman, a featurette on the films locations, and a trailer. 

​Highly recommended! 

Shout Factory has released The Fly Collection - a beautiful set featuring all of the films in the franchise. 

Shout Factory has outdone themselves with this absolutely incredible box set of films. All of the five films included have been remastered and given a ton of special features. The films have never looked this good, especially Cronenberg's 1986 Fly remake, which is presented here in all of its gooey glory.

Films include the original The Fly, Return of the Fly, Curse of the Fly, The Fly '86, and its 1989 sequel, The Fly II. 

Special features are plentiful and the set is simply gorgeous, making this a must-own for any horror fan! Another top-notch entry in the Shout Factory collection. 

Alfred Sole's 1977 "American giallo", Alice, Sweet Alice, is now available on Blu-ray from Arrow Films. 

When Alice's perfect little sister is brutally murdered on the day of her first communion, most everyone begins to suspect Alice of the grisly crime. It's easy to see why at first. Alice isn't the nicest little girl. She taunts and sasses off to just about anyone who is unfortunate enough to cross her path. She has a macabre collection of little trinkets and masks - one of which is a translucent baby-face mask, one that figures prominently in the film, and it is one of the creepiest damn things ever captured on celluloid. 

As the film carries on, people are brutally slaughtered in a variety of ways, each one more gruesome than the last. And the killer, wearing a yellow raincoat and the aforementioned baby-face mask, has no plans of stopping any time soon. As far as the identity of the killer, the revelation is both shocking and playfully ambiguous. 

Sole apparently loved Nic Roeg's Don't Look Now. It's quite obvious throughout the course of the film that this was one of his main sources of inspiration. Not that this is a bad thing, mind you. Alice, Sweet Alice is one of the most unique offerings of seventies horror, and it definitely deserves to be seen. It was released throughout the years with several different titles, including Holy Terror and Communion - titles with not-so-subtle nods to religion, as this is a film with a major chip on its shoulder in regards to the church, particularly the guilt that the church forces on its parishioners to live a "holy" life. Alfred Sole takes a swipe at all of this and then some. In that way, it seems like a very personal film and a very powerful one at that. I quite enjoyed Alice, Sweet Alice, save for a moment of disturbing animal cruelty involving a kitten that was clearly unsimulated. Like many films, it's not without its weaknesses, and there are quite a few. But we're only gonna focus on the good stuff here, and this Blu-ray is definitely worth a purchase for the serious horror fan! 

Arrow's Blu-ray features a brand new 2K restoration, interviews with the cast and crew, two audio commentaries, alternate opening titles, an alternate cut of the film (Holy Terror), deleted scenes, trailers and TV spots, an interview with director Dante Tomaselli, a tour of the filming locations, the original screenplay, and an image gallery. 

Fred Walton's straight-to-cable sequel to his seventies horror classic, When A Stranger Calls, will always have a very special place in my heart. 

I rented it on VHS back in the day, and I saw it long before I ever viewed the original. I remember it terrifying me in the extreme - I was just dipping my toes in the horror genre in those days - and it left an impression on me. Years later, it has definitely lost some of its bite. I'm not as easily terrified as I once was. I've seen it all now, and so this one is relatively tame - but it is also tons of fun. 

Carol Kane and Charles Durning return in their roles from the first film, as they help a young college student (played by Jill Schoelen) who has recently had an encounter with 'the stranger' - a sinister ventriloquist who uses his unnatural talent to carry out his evil deeds. 

When A Stranger Calls Back arrives from Shout Factory on Blu-ray in both full frame and widescreen versions from a new 2K scan of the original film elements. There are new interviews with Fred Walton, Carol Kane, and Jill Schoelen). Included is the short film that inspired both films, entitled "The Sitter". 

​Highly recommended to horror fans! 

Masterfully directed by Lucile Hadžihalilović, Evolution is a small gem that is unmissable.

Available from Shout Factory on a beautiful Blu/DVD combo pack.

Shout Factory has released John Ottman's Urban Legends: Final Cut on Blu-ray. 

When Urban Legends: Final Cut arrived in theaters in 2000, the critics bashed it mercilessly. While some of that reaction is indeed warranted, I found this entry to be a lively and fun addition to this particular franchise. 

At a prestigious film school, several of the students are vying for the coveted Hitchcock Award, which will guarantee its winner a fruitful Hollywood career. While in the process of making their thesis films, several of the students are brutally murdered. There is a definite pattern going on, and it is up to one particular student, Amy Mayfield, to put all of the pieces together. 

Yes, the film follows a tried and true formula - and yes, at times it is incredibly predictable - but John Ottman clearly has lots of fun with the film school setting, which adds a sort of meta quality to the proceedings. You may not care about any of these characters, but you'll definitely enjoy seeing them get stalked and victimized. Two characters from the original film also show up, in a supporting role and a cameo.

From a screenplay that was co-written by Scott Derrickson of The Exorcism of Emily Rose fame, this is a film that was maybe a bit too harshly dismissed, and that now be enjoyed on its own terms.

The Blu-ray contains several special features that fans can enjoy, including a commentary, making of featurettes, and interviews with the cast and crew. 

Shout Factory has released two Jamie Blanks horror films, Urban Legend and Valentine. 

Released in 1998 on the heels of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legend focuses on a group of college students who are suddenly preyed upon, one by one, by a vicious killer who uses various "urban legends" as inspiration for the elaborate slayings. Featuring memorable performances from Jared Leto, Tara Reid, Alicia Witt, and most especially, Rebecca Gayheart. 

Urban Legend is one of the classic late-nineties horror films, a deliciously campy outing that has received the royal treatment from the folks at Shout Factory. 

Next up is Valentine, which was released in 2001. At the 1988 high school prom, several young girls reject the advances of nerdy Jeremy Melton, who simply wants to dance with one of them. When one of them finally says yes, it ends with an unforgivable act of cruelty at Jeremy's expense. 

Years later, all of the girls have grown into gorgeous women. Around Valentine's Day, they start to receive threatening Valentine's day cards. One girl receives a box of chocolate covered maggots. Before long, they are being stalked and killed by a man wearing an ominous cupid mask. There are many twists and turns to be had before the shocking ending. 

Starring Denise Richards, Katherine Heigl, and Jessica Capshaw, Valentine is an atmospheric and suitably creepy horror-mystery from Jamie Blanks. Like Urban Legend, it arrives through Shout Factory in a deluxe collectors edition Blu-ray. 

Both of these releases are highly recommended for horror fans! 

The blessed souls at Shout Factory have released the 2007 Halloween classic, Trick 'r Treat, on a loaded collector's edition Blu-ray. If you're a fan of horror, anthology films, or all things Halloween related, you must own this release. If you haven't seen the film...why are you still reading this? Go. Go now, find a copy, watch it, fall in love with it, and then purchase this release. 

If you're still here, I've posted my original review for your reading pleasure:

In October of 2007, a film was briefly marketed and then abruptly shelved by Warner Brothers.
The film in question was Michael Dougherty’s fantastic directorial debut, Trick ‘r Treat, and the theatrical trailer looked promising. I personally remember seeing the trailer in theatres. I immediately wanted to see it, and I wasn’t alone in that. The film quickly developed a following, and yet Warner Brothers repeatedly pushed back the release date, frustrating audiences in the process. Then one day, without warning, Warner pulled the film completely out of the public eye. This didn’t stop Trick ‘r Treat from becoming a major success at several film festivals, particularly Screamfest. However, the wait was still on for those of us who couldn’t attend those festivals.

Trick ‘r Treat was finally dumped on to DVD and Blu-ray on October 6th, 2009. As we all know, there is a stigma attached to straight-to-DVD fare. However, Trick ‘r Treat would prove to be the exception to that rule. The film is beyond amazing. It is a gift from the gods of film. It is the little Hallow’s Eve indie that could. It is one of the best films of its kind.

Trick ‘r Treat is an anthology film in the vein of Creepshow, Tales from the Darkside: The Movie and Cat’s Eye. It is split up into four segments, each one telling a different story. It takes place in a small town on Halloween night, and the stories are all interrelated. As far as narrative structure, it resembles Pulp Fiction. Unlike Pulp Fiction, we are dealing with werewolves, a haunted bus full of zombie children, vampires, and a cute little fella named Sam (short for Samhain), who wears a sackcloth over his head, loves chocolate, and likes to stab people to death with the jagged edges of giant jack-o-lantern lollipops. Little Sam appears in nearly every segment – a constant observer, always adorable, and always plotting. There is a showdown between Sam and the neighborhood grump near the end of the film that is worth the price of admission (or in this case, the price of the Blu-ray) and then some.

Michael Dougherty is clearly a fan of Halloween. He captures the essence of what makes the tradition so endearing and memorable for us all. He has a keen eye for atmosphere, bringing an authenticity to the film, in regards to the look and feel of Halloween. Dougherty’s pacing is deliberate, allowing us to become familiar with the characters and their surroundings, rather than rushing us into the scary bits. He has created an entire world here, and he wants us to linger for a while. As far as the music is concerned, Douglas Pipes has composed a score that perfectly captures the mood of the film and compliments what we are seeing on the screen. It is memorable piece of work that should become an instant favorite among fans.

The film does have its unnerving moments, but the humor contained within the film tends to balance it all out. There is a story that centers around an elementary school principal – played by Dylan Baker, with just the right amount of creepiness that made his deranged character in Happiness so memorable and disturbing – who just happens to be a serial killer. He knocks off children one by one by poisoning their candy. Afterwards, he proceeds to bury them in his backyard, while his son watches admiringly from the window.

​This segment of the film was pretty controversial, and was probably the reason that mainstream film executives decided to pass on the film. This is unfortunate, because this is exactly the type of experience that deserves to be shared with a full audience.

Trick ‘r Treat is one of the best films of 2009, and is a must-see for fans of horror anthologies. It is pure, unadulterated fun. It’s not going to keep you up at night, but if you are on its wavelength, you are going to have a great time. I promise. Don’t wait for Halloween – watch this one as soon as possible!