This week is a MEGA release week for movies.  Tons of great films being released.  As last time, below you will get some information about the upcoming releases and a link/picture to where you can click and be taken to AMAZON to purchase the movie for a very cheap price.  Enjoy this week’s column.

2001 Maniacs

This movie stars Robert Englund from the Nightmare on Elm street movies.  Based on the campy cult classic by the Godfather of gore, Herschell Gordon Lewis, and starring horror legend Robert Englund, 2001 Maniacs is a bloody comedy/spoof that audiences will love. 2001 Maniacs tells the story of a group of college students on their way to spring break. They decide to take a detour through an old southern town – and are soon in for a big surprise. The residents of Pleasant Valley insist the kids stay for their annual barbecue celebration…but instead of getting a taste of the old south, the old south gets a taste of them!

Supplements

• Two audio commentaries
• Inside the Asylum Making-of featurette
• Deleted/extended scenes
• Outtakes
• Alternate opening with John Landis

Beauty and the Beast (Diamond Edition) (Blu-ray)

A beloved classic comes back to home video in the form of high def.  This is a must own bluray.  The picture is crystal clear and the sound is nothing short of perfect.  Tons of extras are on this disc, plus you get the DVD copy as well.  The commentary track  is very informative and down to the point.

Supplements

• Never-before-seen alternate opening
• Deleted scenes
• Beyond Beauty
• Broadway Beginnings
• Composing a Classic
• Music video

Exclusive HD Content

• Enchanted Musical Challenge
• Bonjour, Who Is This?

The Blair Witch Project (Blu-ray)

This bluray was released  over a month ago exclusively at BEST BUY.  If you have not picked it up yet, then you can pick Blair Witch up anywhere tomorrow.  While this bluray disc is the best Blair Witch has ever looked, it is far from being a demo in your home.  Still tons of grain and just over all sloppy.  But I believe this was the intent of the filmmakers.  To make it look as real as possible.  The sound isn’t really that great on the disc.  Those set aside, if you liked seeing this movie all those years ago, then this is a must pick up to re-live that time and the special features are pretty good.

Supplements

• Audio commentary
• Featurette
• Extra footage
• Four never-before-seen alternate endings

Exclusive HD Content

• Bookmarks

The Exorcist: Extended Director’s Cut (Blu-Ray)

Finally.  To start out the month of Halloween, we get the hig-def transfer of the scariest movie of all time, “The Exorcist”.  You get the spider-crawl scene, the extended ending and a few other scenes that were added in that were not in the original.  I saw this at the theater last week on the big screen, and it was fantastic.  Still scary as hell.  I wish they still made films like this still.  Where we grow with a character and see them transform into something TERRIBLE.    This is a 2-dsic set with a booklet with behind the scenes photos and essays about the making of the film.  An absolute must for any collection.

Supplements

• Commentary by William Friedkin (Disc 1)
• Sketches & storyboards (Disc 2)
• Trailers & TV spots from the 1973 version (Disc 2)
• Trailers, TV spots & radio spots from the film’s 2000 release (Disc 1)
• Introduction by William Friedkin (Disc 2)
• Audio commentary with William Friedkin (Disc 2)
• Audio commentary with William Peter Blatty with Special Sound Effects Tests (Disc 2)
• The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist (Disc 2)
• Additional interviews with William Friedkin and William Peter Blatty (Disc 2)
• Original ending (Disc 2)

Exclusive HD Content

• Raising Hell: Filming the Exorcist (Disc 1)
• The Exorcist Locations: Georgetown Then and Now (Disc 1)
• Faces of Evil: The Different Versions of The Exorcist (Disc 1)

Grindhouse: Special Edition (Blu-Ray)

It is about time we get these two films from Tarantino and Rodriguez in one release.  And YES.  YES.  We will be getting all the fake trailers in this release of Grindhouse.    Now I am a big fan of actual Grindhouse films and Tarantino and Rodriguez did an excellent job in re-creating the atmosphere and feel of this type of film.  I cannot wait to sit down with some friends at midnight with tons of beer and food and watch these two films in a row.

Supplements

• Faux Trailers (‘Don’t,’ ‘Werewolf Women of the S.S.,’ and ‘Thanksgiving’)
• Sickos, Bullets, And Explosions: The Stunts of Planet Terror
• Casting Rebel
• The Friend, the Doctor, and the Real Estate Agent
• Planet Terror Poster Gallery
• Stunts on Wheels: The Legendary Drivers of Death Proof
• The Uncut Version of “Baby, It’s You” performed by Mary Elizabeth Winstead
• Introducing Zoe Bell
• Double Dare Trailer
• Death Proof Extended Music
• Death Proof Poster Gallery
• Quentin’s Greatest Collaborator: Editor Sally Menke
• The Guys of Death Proof
• Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike
• Finding Quentin’s Gals
• Robert Rodriguez’s 10-Minute Film School
• The Badass Babes of Planet Terror
• The Guys of Planet Terror

Exclusive HD Content

• Robert Rodriguez’s 10-Minute Cooking School
• Extended Werewolf Women of the SS trailer (with optional commentary by director Rob Zombie)
• The making of Werewolf Women of the SS trailer
• Extended Don’t trailer (with optional commentary by director Edgar Wright)
• The Making of Don’t Trailer
• Don’t storyboard/trailer comparison (with optional commentary by Director Edgar Wright)
• Don’t storyboards still gallery
• Don’t poster
• The Making of Thanksgiving trailer
• New York Times talk with Quention Tarantino and Lynn Hirschberg at Comic-Con 2006 featuring the directors and cast of Grindhouse
• Grindhouse Trailer Contest Winner Hobo with a Shotgun
• The Makeup Effects of Planet Terror
• The Hot Rods of Death Proof
• From Texas to Tennessee: The Production Design of Death Proof

Hard Candy (Blu-Ray)

This was another film that was released a while ago as a Best Buy exclusive.  This film made me sweat.  I was on the edge of my seat the entire film.  One of the most tense films I have ever seen.  If you have not seen this yet, I really do not want to give anything away, but seriously buy this film if you love uber tense movies.  What a thrill ride.  it stars Ellen Page from “Juno”.

Supplements

• Two audio commentaries with filmmakers and actors
• Deleted and extended scenes
• Making-of documentary
• Controversial Confection featurette

High Tension (Blu-ray)

This a slasher/horror foreign film from France and it does not Disappoint at all.  A huge twist ending and a whole lot of guts and blood are instore for you.  A great addition to any horror collection and just in time for Halloween.  Marie and Alexia are classmates and best friends. Hoping to prepare for their college exams in peace and quiet, they decide to spend a weekend in the country at Alexia’s parents’ secluded farmhouse. But in the dead of night, a stranger knocks on the front door. And with the first swing of his knife, the girls’ idyllic weekend turns into an endless night of horror.

Supplements

• Audio commentary with the director and screenwriter
• Select scene commentary with director and star
• Haute Horror – The Making of High Tension
• Building Tension
• Gianetto De Rossi: The Truth, the Madness and the Magic

The Human Centipede (Blu-Ray)

I saw this film a few months ago.  It really did not get a wide release in theaters.  IFC put it on demand for a couple of weeks and I got a chance to watch it.  WOW.  It is a brutal torture film in which a mad scientist/doctor makes a “Human Centipede”, by kidnapping innocent people and sewing his victims ass to mouth so they have one digestive track.  This is a film to watch with others and watch their reaction.  Much much joy.  This is a must own for all you cinephiles out there.  “During a stopover in Germany in the middle of a carefree roadtrip through Europe, two American girls find themselves alone at night when their car breaks down in the woods. Searching for help at a nearby villa, they are wooed into the clutches of a deranged retired surgeon who explains his mad scientific vision to his captives’ utter horror. They are to be the subjects of his sick lifetime fantasy: to be the first to connect people, one to the next, via their gastric system, and in doing so bring to life ‘the human centipede.”

Supplements

• Director commentary
• Making of
• Deleted scene
• Alternate posters
• Trailer

The Karate Kid 2010 (Blu-Ray)

12-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) could’ve been the most popular kid in Detroit, but his mother’s latest career move has landed him in China. Dre immediately falls for his classmate Mei Ying—and the feeling is mutual—but cultural differences make such a friendship impossible. Even worse, Dre’s feelings make an enemy of the class bully, and kung fu prodigy, Cheng. With no friends in a strange land, Dre has nowhere to turn but maintenance man Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), who is secretly a master of kung fu. As Han teaches Dre that kung fu is not about punches and parries, but maturity and calm, Dre realizes that facing down the bullies will be the fight of his life.

Supplements

• Chinese Lessons – Learn Chinese!
• Music Video: Justin Bieber Featuring Jaden Smith “Never Say Never”
• Just for Kicks: The Making of The Karate Kid

Exclusive HD Content

• ON LOCATION: The Karate Kid Interactive Map of China
• Alternate Ending
• Play All Hosted by Jackie Chan
• Production Diaries Hosted by Jackie Chan
• movieIQ+sync(TM)
• PS3 Wallpaper Theme

The Last of the Mohicans (Blu-Ray)

An epic adventure and passionate romance unfold against the panorama of a frontier wilderness ravaged by war. Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis (Best Actor in 1989 for My Left Foot) stars as Hawkeye, rugged frontiersman and adopted son of the Mohicans, and Madeleine Stowe is Cora Munro, aristocratic daughter of a proud British Colonel. Their love, tested by fate, blazes amidst a brutal conflict between the British, the French and Native American allies that engulfs the majestic mountains and cathedral-like forests of Colonial America.  What a gem of a film in high definition.

Supplements

• Commentary by Director Michael Mann
• The Making of the Last of the Mohicans (featuring new interviews with Daniel day Lewis)
• Theatrical Trailers

Mad Max (Blu-Ray)

Mel Gibson at his best.  In the ravaged near-future, a savage motorcycle gang rules the road. Terrorizing innocent civilians while tearing up the streets, the ruthless gang laughs in the face of a police force hell-bent on stopping them. But they underestimate one officer: Max Rockatansky (Gibson). And when the bikers brutalize Max’s best friend and family, they send him into a mad frenzy that leaves him with only one thing left in the world to live for – revenge!

Supplements

• Filmmaker Commentary by Jon Dowding, David Eggby, Chris Murray & Tim Ridge
• Documentary: “Mad Max: The Film Phenomenon”
• Theatrical trailers & TV spots
• “Mel Gibson: The Birth Of A Star” Documentary
• Trivia & Fun Fact Track
• Photo gallery

The Maltese Falcon (Blu-ray)

A beloved Bogart classic gets the high-def treatment.  A gallery of high-living lowlifes will stop at nothing to get their sweaty hands on a jewel-encrusted falcon. Detective Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) wants to find out why – and who’ll take the fall for his partner’s murder. An all-star cast (including Sydney Greenstreet, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre and Elisha Cook Jr.) joins Bogart in this crackling mystery masterwork written for the screen (from Dashiell Hammett’s novel) and directed by John Huston. This 1941 Academy Awards® Nominee* catapulted Bogart to stardom and launched Huston’s directorial career – all with a bird and a bang.

Supplements

• Commentary by Bogart Biographer Eric Lax
• Featurette: The Maltese Falcon: One Magnificent Bird
• Breakdowns of 1941: Studio Blooper Reel
• Makeup tests
• Becoming Attractions: The Trailers of Humphrey Bogart
• Warner Night at the Movies 1941 – Short Subjects Gallery: Newsreel, Musical Short: The Gay Parisian, Two Classic Cartoons (Hiawatha’s Rabbit Hunt & Meet John Doughboy)
• Trailers
• Audio-Only Bonus: Three radio show adaptations – two featuring the movie’s original stars, plus another starring Edward G. Robinson

A Nightmare on Elm St. 2010 (Blu-ray)

This remake of the beloved 1980’s classic by Wes Craven gets the remake over haul and only somewhat disappoints.  You get everything you want out of the film.  Jackie Earl Haley plays Freddy and he does a good job at it and there are even some straight forward shot for shot remake scenes from the original.  But what is missing or shall I say what is NOT missing.  Listen, I do NOT want an “in my face” reason why Freddy is Freddy.  I do NOT want to know when these characters are in a dream or not until creepy shit starts happening.  And I want Freddy to be the same funny one liner Freddy, which I get but only in the end.  Some stuff was done right and some stuff was not.  Overall I still liked it, and will see another sequel if one gets made, but the original still is the best.

Exclusive HD Content

• In-Movie Experience
• Focus Points
• Additional Footage
• BD-Live Functionality
• DVD/Digital Copy Combo Disc

The Peanuts Holiday Collection (Blu-ray)

A wonderful set of our favorite comic strip “The Peanuts: featuring Charlie Brown.  In this set you will get “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”, and “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving”.   Can’t wait to watch these in the blu-ray format.

Supplements

• Bonus Cartoons
• Featurettes

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead (Blu-Ray)

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead’ is the debut feature film of Director Jordan Galland, who also penned the original screenplay, which finds the characters from Hamlet, a tip of the cap to Tom Stoppard, and a two thousand year conspiracy involving vampires and the Holy Grail.   This just sounds BADASS!  Must Get.

Secretary (Blu-Ray)

What a modern classic cult film this was.  I love the fetish world and this films explores quite a bit of that.  In an office setting no less.  A true Love Story at heart.  James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal star in the dark comedy Secretary. Praised as “daring, funny and quirkily erotic!” (Glenn Kenny, Premiere) and “sexy and highly stylized” (Gear magazine), Secretary is the story of Lee Holloway (Gyllenhaal), a young woman with a few strikes against her after a brief stay in a mental hospital, who accepts a secretarial position working at the law office of E. Edward Grey (Spader). The work seems normal at first, but somewhere between the typing, filing and coffee-making, Lee and her new boss cross the line of their professional relationship and enter into a Human Resources nightmare!

Supplements

• Audio Commentary
• Featurette
• Still Gallery
• Trailers

Exclusive HD Content

• Interactive Bookmark Function

Splice (Blu-Ray)

I really liked this film.  It was a very different take into the realm of sci-fi and horror.  It is a bit awkward to watch, but I loved where this move took me.  I have not seen it before done.  Very good and highly recommended.  Superstar genetic engineers Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) specialize in splicing DNA from different animals to create incredible new hybrids. Now they want to use human DNA in a hybrid that could revolutionize science and medicine. But when the pharmaceutical company that funds their research forbids it, Clive and Elsa secretly take their boldest experimentation underground—risking their careers by pushing the boundaries of science to serve their own curiosity and ambition. The result is Dren, an amazing, strangely beautiful creature of uncommon intelligence and an array of unexpected physical developments. At first, Dren exceeds their wildest dreams. But as she grows and learns at an accelerated rate, her existence threatens to become their worst nightmare.

Troll 2: Nilbog Edition (Blu-Ray)

Labeled as the Best Worst Film Ever.  Troll 2 does not have trolls in the entire film nor is it a sequel.  If that does not capture you to want to watch this then I do not know what will.  Disguised as friendly country folk, a pugnacious posse of people-eating trolls lures visitors to their town. But a family of four is about to discover this place is a real tourist trap…and they’re the prey! Now, the no-good gnomes must be destroyed before the family gets flambéed…and the world becomes a buffet in this feeding frenzy of fear!  A ridiculous good time.

That is it for this week.  Stay tuned for next week.