I’m making a slight change to the name of this series to Recent Blu-Ray Haul. It sounds less pretentious to me. As always, I do one of these whenever I pick up 4 or more Blu-Rays/DVDs because I’m a physical media collector. I’ll keep doing it as long as physical media exists. As with last month, I’m bringing in the Horror Pack thingamajig. I’m going to start with the Horror Pack first, because there was an issue with this month’s pack that I feel needs to be brought up. I’ve picked up quite few things very recently, so let’s dig in to what I got, shall we?
Horror Pack #3
Pet Sematary
I’m going to get this one out of the way. The issue that I mentioned was with Pet Sematary. The disc that I got was for the original 1989 movie, but the slip cover indicated both the original movie and the 2019 remake. Here’s the problem, there was a code for the 2019 movie that was supposed to be included with this disc, but there wasn’t one, so I contacted Horror Pack about it and they got back to me about the issue and they didn’t realize that there was a problem until a day or two ago, well after the packs had shipped. They were apparently misled by their supplier, but there’s no remedy for this situation. Obviously, I’m not going to blame Horror Pack for this. It’s not their fault, so it is what it is. That said, I hadn’t seen the original movie in years. In fact, I don’t even remember finishing the movie at all. It’s a creepy movie befitting a Stephen King adaptation, I loved it. I’ll check out the 2019 movie at some point.
Crabs!
And now for something different! I believe it was Sam Raimi that coined the term “splatstick.” What that means is that the gore in a particular movie can be used to comedic effect. Crabs! definitely falls under that category. I think it’s perfectly fine for a horror movie to be as silly as it wants and as stupid as it wants. Crabs! is a very stupid movie. But it’s stupid in the best way possible. Irradiated horseshoe crabs attacking people? The jokes almost write themselves. It’s bonkers. There’s a lot more practical effects involved here than I was expecting for such a low-budget horror flick. Yeah, the CGI is awful, but that’s part of the charm. The film even turns into a Kaiju monster movie towards the end. It’s surprisingly hilarious, especially with a character specifically saying that he’s going to poke something with a stick. It’s VERY self-aware. I LOVE IT!
Paranormal Activity 2
The first found footage movie that I saw and liked was Cloverfield. But I never really took the genre seriously until I finally saw The Blair Witch Project about 2 years ago. It made waves in the horror genre, and rightfully so. It was revolutionary, terrifying, and incredibly well-made. Paranormal Activity became the poster-child for the found-footage genre when the first movie was released back in 2007. I never saw it, because again, I was skeptical of the genre. So, my first exposure to this franchise just began with the second movie, which I guess acts as a prequel of sorts to the first movie. I know it has its detractors, but I really enjoyed it.
The Winter Hunger
Now here is the Limited Edition Blu-Ray this month. I haven’t watched The Winter Hunger yet, I’ll check it out this weekend. So far, Horror Pack has been 1 for 2 with their limited editions. The first one that I got about two months was awful, but The Woman in the Chair was actually pretty good, so I’m interested in seeing this one.
Regular Movie Haul
Star Trek: The Motion Picture Director’s Edition
Technically speaking, I already owned the Director’s Edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture on DVD, but that version came out 22 years ago. The version I just picked up IS the Director’s Edition, but it’s been remastered with updated visual effects and better picture and sound. Is it the definitive version of the film? In my opinion, yes. If you’re not a fan of The Motion Picture, this isn’t going to change your mind. But, if you love this movie as much as I do, this is absolutely a must-own for your collection.
Sniper: The White Wolf
There are timely movies and then there’s Sniper: The White Raven. Considering the unprovoked war that Russia has been conducting against Ukraine over the past 6 months or so, it is no surprise that a movie like this would show up. It’s a Ukrainian war movie that’s as much of a character study as it is a propaganda piece. The film is set in 2014, shortly after Russia annexed Crimea. I reviewed this film about a week ago, but it’s really good.
Elvis
Baz Luhrmann is a unique director. His movies have a visual flair unlike anything I’ve ever seen, regardless of whether the movie is good or not. But Elvis just might be my favorite movie of his. If nothing else, Austin Butler’s performance as Elvis Presley is one for the history books. When he’s on screen, you’re not looking at an Elvis impersonator, you’re looking at Elvis. It’s not a movie without issues. I’m not digging Tom Hank’s performance as Colonel Tom Parker. He comes across as a very cartoonish individual, and in a movie about the single most important figure in Rock ‘N Roll history, Tom Hanks’ performance is wildly out of place. That said, this is an outstanding movie with a really good story and amazing visuals. The music? Oh, my god. It’s amazing. Butler is clearly channeling Elvis here. It has to be seen to be believed.
Mimic
This one’s a bit of a cheat. I already had this movie on Blu-Ray. But the version I had from 2010 was the director’s cut. It was the version where Guillermo Del Toro basically cut out 95 percent of second unit footage. It has a very different pace and feel to what was released in theaters back in 1997. The DVD that I recently picked up is the version that was released to theaters. I did it to compare the two versions. The director’s cut is a much better film, with better character development. The theatrical release was more fast-paced and opted for more jump-scares. It’s a giant bug movie. What else can I say?
Ferngully: The Last Rainforest
Ferngully is a movie that I hadn’t seen since I was a kid. It’s one of those movies that obviously has an environmental message. It’s so blatant, that some might consider it “environmentalist mumbo-jumbo.” But for kids, it kind of needs to be a little heavy-handed. It’s got some outstanding voice-work from actors like Samantha Mathis and Christian Slater, but the real stars of the show are Robin Williams as Batty and Tim Curry as the villain, Hexxus. It’s a good movie.
Well, that’s it for this haul of physical media. I just ordered the first 6 Paranormal Activity movies on Blu-Ray, so I’ll be talking about that particular franchise next weekend…hopefully. That’s quite a bit of stuff that I picked up. So…I hope y’all found something to check out.