Scream Factory Blu-ray News + Tidbits 4/23/15 - 4/29/15

This week was a pretty good week for Blu-ray news. Scream Factory announced two new titles for Blu-ray release. Other companies also announced new titles. As well, a new Blu-ray title was released this week. That is it for all of the big news. On to the details:

News:

Scream Factory announced the release of Metamorphosis and Beyond Darkness on a Double Feature Blu-ray. All the details can be found Here.

Scream factory also announced the Blu-ray Collector's Edition release of The Serpent and the Rainbow. Check Here for all of the details.

Kino Lorber Studio Classics announced the release of Twice Told Tales starring Vincent Price. For the details go Here.

Released this week from Scream Factory, From A Whisper To A Scream

Tidbits:

-Answers to some of the title requests by fans:

• Split Second is not currently an option for Scream Factory.
• No chance at this time for Rawhead Rex from Scream Factory.

Scream Factory Announces The Serpent And The Rainbow Collector's Edition Blu-ray

Scream Factory has announced the release of The Serpent and the Rainbow in a Collector's Edition Blu-ray. The Blu-ray is planned for an August release. The newly commissioned artwork for the release will be revealed next month. There are no other details on the release as of now but Scream Factory will update late on the extras for this release as they lock them in.

What do you think of this announcement? Will you be picking up this release?

Scream Factory Announces Metamorphosis / Beyond Darkness Double Feature Blu-ray

Scream Factory has announced the Blu-ray Double Feature release of Metamorphosis and Beyond Darkness. The Blu-ray Double Feature is planned for a late August release date. The runtime for Metamorphosis is 92 minutes, which is the only version available to Scream Factory. NO other details are available at this time.

What do you think of this announcement? Will you be picking up this release?

Scream Factory Blu-ray News + Tidbits 4/15/15 - 4/23/15

It was a pretty decent Blu-ray news week this week. A bunch of new Blu-rays were released this week. As well, a few new titles have been announced for release on Blu-ray. That's about it for the big news. Check out everything below:

News:

Scream Factory announced the Blu-ray release of The Legacy. Check out the details Here.

Scream Factory announced the Blu-ray Collector's Edition release of The People Under the Stairs. All the details can be found Here.

Kino Lorber Studio Classics announced the release of the often requested Burnt Offerings. Check out the announcement Here.

Warner Archive Announced the release of Wolfen. Check out the announcement Here.

This week brought a lot a bunch of new Blu-ray releases. Check them all out below:
Ghoulies / Ghoulies II
Escape From New York
Deep In The Darkness
Blind Woman's Curse 


Tidbits:

-Scream Factory has some extras planned for their Howling II Blu-ray that will be announced next month.

-Answers to some title requests from fans:

• Scream Factory does not have the rights for The Legend of Night Creek.

Scream Factory Announces People Under The Stairs Collector's Edition Blu-ray

Scream Factory made a surprise title announcement today of Wes Craven's The People Under the Stairs. The release will be on Collector's Edition Blu-ray. The Blu-ray is planned to be released in August. The artwork above is the newly commissioned artwork for this release. They already have two new special features banked and more planned. That is all the details for the release at this time.

What do you think of this announcement? Will you be picking up this release?

Scream Factory Announces The Legacy Blu-ray Release

Scream Factory gave a surprise announcement today when they announced the Blu-ray release of The Legacy. The Blu-ray release of this film is planned for August. There are no details on if any special features are planned for this release. Pre-order links go up next month. That is all of the details Scream Factory has at this time.

What do you think of this announcement? Will you be picking up this release?

Scream Factory Blu-ray News + Tidbits 4/8/15 - 4/15/15

A pretty good news week this last week. Scream Factory announced two more contemporary titles to be released on Blu-ray in the near future. As well, Scream Factory announced the special features for two of their upcoming releases. Here are all the details:

News:

Scream Factory announces two more IFC Midnight releases, Alien Outpost and Dark Summer. Check Here for more details.

Scream Factory has announced the special features for their Collector's Edition Blu-ray releases of Sleepaway Camp II & Sleepaway Camp III. Go Here for the full list of extras.

Here is the next installment of First Time Watching featuring Gone With The Pope.


Tidbits:

-Answers to some of the title requests from fans:

• Scream Factory does not have the rights to The Mutilator.
• Scream Factory cannot get the rights to The Children.

First Time Watching: Gone With The Pope

The latest film I watched on my First Time Watching list was Gone With The Pope, which was recently released on Blu-ray from Grindhouse Releasing. I had never heard of this film until Grindhouse announced it's release. The synopsis for the film sounded very intriguing and cool so I pre-ordered it right away. Upon receiving the Blu-ray and watching the film, I can say that I was pretty disappointed overall with the film itself. The actual Blu-ray was a pretty strong release with some good special features and a strong presentation. However, the film was just not for me.

Here is a quick rundown of the film's plot. Basically the film is about a plan of capturing the pope and ransoming him for one dollar from every catholic in the world. At least that is what the film is supposed to be about. This plot line is only followed for a pretty short amount of run time. Far less than it should have. It seemed like this plot took up about a third of the film's run time. The rest of the film seems to just be a collage of different ideas that were stuck together.

The patched together feel of the plot should not come to too much of a surprise because the film was left uncompleted for a few decades and was just finally completed and released a few years ago. Duke Mitchell, the director of the film, started making the movie in the mid 70's and was unable to complete the film before his death in the early 80's. The film was found years later in his garage and was slowly and carefully put together. After over a decade since the film was found in the mid 90's, the film was completed and released. So while it is definitely an interesting story in terms of bringing to life a long forgotten and uncompleted film, the film itself is not all that great.

The parts directly relating to the described plot of the film are pretty good. The actual plot of kidnapping the pope and ransoming him to his faithful is a very interesting idea. Unfortunately the film itself spends too little time on this idea and more on the man behind the plan. Which would normally not be a problem but the way it is done in this film is a little disjointed. It appears to me that the film focuses a large majority of it's run time of building up the main character, trying to make him cool. For the most part the film does not succeed in doing so. Besides the segments where he is walking through Las Vegas and when he is planning and performing the hit on the five individuals, the character building falls flat. The film has a whole scene were it appears that the filmmakers were trying to show how cool the character was and instead showed how astonishingly racist the character was. The obvious argument would be that it was very much a product of the time, which it definitely could be. However, it still doesn't make it okay and beyond that it doesn't help make the film any better.

Overall the film itself is not that great. It has a very strong premise that could have brought about a lot of cool action and excitement if the filmmakers utilized it better. While there is nothing wrong with developing the characters in a film, the way the characters are developed in this film leaves a lot to be desired. Spending more time on the kidnapping and ransoming of the pope could have propelled this film into a classic instead of unique curiosity that it is now. If you are interested in checking out this film I would recommend going in with lowered expectations in terms of the development of the interesting marketed plot. The Blu-ray release from Grindhouse Releasing is a pretty strong release and it is recommended for those that might be interested or compelled to watch this curious little film.

Scream Factory Announce Final List Of Extras For Sleepaway Camp II & III

Scream Factory has announced the final list of extra's for their Collector's Edition Blu-ray releases of Sleepaway Camp II and Sleepaway Camp III. Here is the full list:

Sleepaway Camp II:

• Audio Commentary with Director Michael A. Simpson and Writer Fritz Gordon
• A Tale of Two Sequels – Part One featuring new interviews with director Michael A. Simpson, cinematographer Bill Mills, editor John David Allen and more…
• Abandoned – The Filming Locations of Sleepaway Camp II & III – A tour of the shooting locales Behind The Scenes Footage with commentary by Michael A. Simpson
• Home Video Promotional Trailer
• Still Gallery

Available for pre-order here: Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers

Sleepaway Camp III:

• Audio Commentary with Director Michael A. Simpson and Writer Fritz Gordon
• A Tale of Two Sequels – Part Two featuring new interviews with director Michael A. Simpson, cinematographer Bill Mills, actors Mark Oliver and Kim Wall and more…
• Behind-The-Scenes Footage with commentary by Michael A. Simpson
• Workprint of the longer cut of the film (from VHS)
• Deleted Scenes featuring additional gore footage (Taken off from the workprint)
• Home Video Promotional Trailer
• Still Gallery

Available for pre-order here: Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland

Also Scream Factory stated that they reached out to Pamela Springsteen but she declined to participate.

What do you think of this announcement? Will you be picking up these releases?

Scream Factory Announces Two More IFC Midnight Releases

Today Scream Factory announced two more titles from IFC Midnight, Alien Outpost and Dark Summer. Both films will be released on Blu-ray on 7/7/15. The extras for these releases are still in production and will be announced at a later date.

What do you think of these announcements? Will you be picking them up?

Scream Factory And Other Blu-ray News + Tidbits 4/1/15 - 4/8/15

After a few slow weeks in regards to Blu-ray news, this week brought a slight uptick in the news departments. This week both Scream Factory and Arrow video announced new Blu-ray titles to be released later this year. Other than that there was not a lot of news. So on to the new titles announced!

News:

Released this week on Blu-ray from Scream Factory: Invaders From Mars

Scream Factory announced the release of The Sentinel on Blu-ray. Check out all of the info Here.

Arrow Video announced their July release slate that includes Eaten Alive, Cemetery Without Crosses, and the Stray Cat Rock: The Collection. For more info on all of these releases check Here.

Tidbits:

-The announcement of The Sentinel on Blu-ray from Scream Factory marks a new deal with Universal. In other words, expect more titles from the Universal catalog to be announced in the near future by Scream Factory.

-Answers to some title requests by fans:

• Scream Factory has no plans at this time to upgrade The Vagrant, What's The Matter With Helen?, Contamination .7, or The Dungeonmaster to Blu-ray.
• Mirror, Mirror is not on the horizon from Scream Factory.
• Scream Factory cannot get the rights to Tales From The Hood. 
• Zero chance of Scream Factory releasing Silent Rage at this time.

Scream Factory Announces The Sentinel Blu-ray

Scream Factory has announced today that they will be releasing The Sentinel on Blu-ray in August. There is no news on the extras but Scream Factory teased that they already have a "special one already banked that will be a real treat for die-hard fans." Also they stated that they would have liked to have made this release a Collector's Edition but because of what they felt was achievable for extras would not be fitting for the Collector's Editions higher price point.

As a side note Scream Factory has all but formally confirmed that they have a new deal with Universal. So expect more releases for the Universal catalog from Scream Factory.

Arrow Video Announces Their July Releases

Today Arrow Video has announced their July release slate. They announced three new releases for North America. Here is what will be coming soon:

Stray Cat Rock: The Collection

This Blu-ray will be released on 7/14/2015. Here are the details for this release:

- Limited Edition Blu-ray (3000 copies only)

- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of all five films in the Stray Cat Rock series

- Original Mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-rays)

- New English subtitle translation of all five films

- Interview with Yasuharu Hasebe director of Delinquent Girl Boss, Sex Hunter and Machine Animal

- Interview with actor Tatsuya Fuji, star of all five films

- Interview with actor Yoshio Harada, star of Beat ’71

- Original Trailers

- Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the films by Japanese cinema expert Jasper Sharp

Cemetery Without Crosses

This Blu-ray will be released on 7/21/2015. Here are the details for this release:

- Brand new 2K restoration of the film from original film elements

- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations

- Original Italian and English soundtracks in uncompressed PCM mono audio

- Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack

- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack

- Remembering Sergio - an all-new interview with star and director Robert Hossein, filmed exclusively for this release

- French television news report on the film’s making, containing interviews with Hossein, and actors Michèle Mercier and Serge Marquand

- Archive interview with Hossein

- Trailers

- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by James Flames

- Illustrated collector’s booklet containing new writing by Ginette Vincendeau and Rob Young

Eaten Alive

This Blu-ray will be released 7/28/2015. Here are the details for this release:

- Brand new 2K transfer from the original camera negative

- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations

- Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

- Audio commentary with co-writer and producer Mardi Rustam, make-up artist Craig Reardon and stars Roberta Collins, William Finley and Kyle Richards

- New introduction to the film by director Tobe Hooper

- Brand new interview with Hooper

- My Name is Buck: Star Robert Englund discusses his acting career

- The Butcher of Elmendorf: The Legend of Joe Ball – The story of the South Texas bar owner on whom Eaten Alive is loosely based

- 5ive Minutes with Marilyn Burns – The star of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre talks about working on Eaten Alive

- The Gator Creator: archival interview with Hooper

- Original theatrical trailers for the film under its various titles Eaten Alive, Death Trap, Starlight Slaughter and Horror Hotel

- US TV and Radio Spots

- Alternate credits sequence

- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gary Pullin

- Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

- More to be announced!

What do you think of these announcements? Will you be picking any of these up?