Recent Blu-Ray Haul Vol. 25

For those of us that love physical media, the last few years have been outstanding.  Here’s the thing, though.  The quality DVD’s, Blu-Rays, and 4Ks haven’t been coming from a lot of the major studios, because THEY’VE been focusing on streaming, which isn’t doing very well right now, except for Netflix.  No, the best physical releases have been coming from the boutique labels like Shout! Factory, Criterion, Kino Lorber, Grindhouse, Blue Underground, MVD Releasing, Vinegar Syndrome, and many others.  Now is the best time to be a fan of physical media.  2023 has seen a HUGE number of outstanding releases.  With streaming in its current…predicament, it’s important to remember that physical media still has an important part to play in the world of movies, and it will for at least another decade.  With that out of the way, let’s take a gander at some of the stuff I’ve picked up since the last haul.

The Vincent Price Collection – Scream Factory

For some bizarre reason, I decided I needed some Vincent Price in my life, so…I picked up the Vincent Price Collection.  This was the first of three collections that became available.  Vincent Price is one of the legendary actors of the 50s and 60s, known mostly for his gothic horror films where he played villains.  He would be the first person to tell you that he doesn’t have much range, but what he gives us is fantastic.  This collection has 6 movies spread over 4 discs: The Pit and The Pendulum, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, The Haunted Palace, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Masque of the Red Death, and Witchfinder General.  These are all classics in their own right.  I might do a review on Witchfinder General later, because this was not your typical horror film.  Most of the films in this collection are based on Edgar Allan Poe’s work, but Witchfinder General really wasn’t.  It was inspired by the notorious real-life witch hunter, Mathew Hopkins, during the 17th century.

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 – Paramount Pictures

To say that I’m a fan of Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible movies is a gross understatement.  I love all these movies, especially the more recent ones like Ghost Protocol, Rogue Nation, and Fallout.  Tom Cruise has made a habit of upping the ante with the stunts that he does, because he does them all.  But these are great spy capers that are a lot of fun, although, I will admit that MI: 3 was the weakest of the bunch, in my opinion.  But this latest entry: Dead Reckoning: Part 1 takes things to a whole new level in terms of action and stunt-work.  The story is kind off…eh.  But we all go to these movies to see what shenanigans that Cruise’s Ethan Hunt gets into, and they don’t disappoint.  For a movie that’s 2.5 hours long, it doesn’t feel like that.  It moves pretty quickly.  While I can’t wait to see Part 2 when it comes out, Part 1 didn’t do very well at the box office.  The budget ballooned like crazy because of Covid, but it’s still an awesome action movie.  I just wish the special features were more in-depth then they were.

Meg 2: The Trench – Warner Bros.

Never let it be said that Jason Statham kicking a giant shark in the face is a bad thing.  The first Meg was a surprising amount of fun.  Giant sharks are awesome, but my biggest issue with the film was that there wasn’t enough carnage with the megalodon.  Well, you definitely get more carnage with this movie and that makes it a bit more fun.  Perhaps the most interesting addition to the film was Wu Jing.  Most western audience aren’t going to know how this guy is.  He’s a martial arts actor who made his break in Hong Kong’s kung-fu movies during the 90s and early 2000s.  He’s FAST, but he doesn’t do any martial arts in this movie.  He’s actually got pretty good chemistry with Statham, so these two are a blast to watch.  Don’t listen to the critics who hated this movie, it’s a lot of fun.  Special features-wise though, this release is anemic.  Two featurettes that don’t even hit 30 minutes total.  Lame.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter – Universal Studios

When it comes to legendary monsters in literature, you don’t get more infamous than Dracula.  There have been so many adaptations of Bram Stoker’s novel over the past century.  The most famous of which is Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi.  But one of my favorites was Nosferatu, which was released in 1922.  Between Christopher Lee, Frank Langella, and Gary Oldman, the eponymous vampire has endured.  With The Last Voyage of the Demeter, the film-makers explored a part of the book that most would probably gloss over: Chapter 7.  In this chapter, the captain’s log of the Demeter describes the last days aboard the schooner.  The film-makers decided to turn this story into an Alien-style thriller.  You know what?  It worked.  This is one of the best thrillers of the year, and I just wish that Universal Studios gave it more attention.  It bombed at the box office, and the marketing for the home video release was sparse.  It’s too bad, this is one of the most underrated movies of the year.

Crocodile – Synapse

In 1975, the world’s first summer blockbuster hit the silver screen around the world: Jaws.  It was one of the biggest movies of that year.  It was amazing, because it wasn’t just about the shark, it was about people dealing with the shark.  Steven Spielberg made his name with that movie.  Jaws fever gripped the world, and film-makers were eager to capitalize on the film’s success.  One of the first ones was Piranha.  It was quite the knock-off.  But it wouldn’t just be the United States that would rip-off Jaws.  Thailand would get one of the more bonkers movies in Crocodile, or Crocodile Fangs as it was known overseas.  This featured a giant crocodile as a result of nuclear testing, and it follows the Jaws formula to a tee.  Except that the two main leads lose their loved ones to the beast.  Other than that, it proceeds just like Jaws.  I love this movie.  The carnage is over-the-top and plentiful, despite the odd quality of the miniatures.  During the final act, the size of the croc changes.  It’s not a good movie, but it IS a great time.

John Carpenter’s Vampires – Scream Factory

Of all the vampire movies I’ve seen over the years, and I’ve seen a lot, John Carpenter’s Vampires was not one of his best movies.  At least, not when I first saw it.  I thought it was alright.  When I picked it up on Blu-Ray, I had a lot of fun with it.  Whatever you think of James Woods’ politics, he’s an electric actor, and his performance in this movie is wild.  Thomas Ian Griffith as Valek, almost steals the show.  He’s pretty terrifying.  The other actors including Tim Guinee and Daniel Baldwin did a pretty good job.  It’s definitely a bloody movie, and it starts off with a bang and ends with a bang.  The special features are pretty good here, including a commentary by the man himself, John Carpenter.

John Carpenter’s In The Mouth of Madness – Warner Bros.

This one was available from Scream Factory, but I bought the WB version instead.  It was cheaper.  Still, it’s a decent disc.  In The Mouth of Madness is the second John Carpenter film on this list, but it’s also directly inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft.  It’s got a solid cast including Sam Neill and Jurgen Prochnow as Stephen King-style author Sutter Cane.  Things really start taking a turn for the bizarre when Trent goes in search of a town called Hobb’s End.  The closer that he gets to Cane, the more off the rails the world seems to go.  It’s the best H.P. Lovecraft movie that’s not H.P. Lovecraft.  It’s bonkers and at times really funny.

And that’s all I’ve got for this haul, but don’t worry, there’s more coming out next week including Saw X and Oppenheimer.  Until then: Ciao!