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September 2
Casper
(1995) Bill Pullman, Christina Ricci, Cathy Moriarty. Extras: "Revealing Casper," "Penguin for Your Thoughts" cartoon classic, commentary with director Brian Silberling. (Universal).
Dracula
(1979) Dir.: John Badham; Frank Langella, Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasence, Kate Nelligan.Extras: "The Revamping of Dracula," commentary with director John Badham, Universal Classic Monsters trailer, "Dracula" TV series trailer. (Universal).
Firestarter
(1984) David Keith, Drew Barrymore, Freddie Jones, Heather Locklear, Martin Sheen, George C. Scott, Art Carney, Louise Fletcher. (Universal).
(2006) Sarah Michelle Gellar. Extras: "Making of The Return." (Universal).
The Watcher
(2000) Keanu Reeves, James Spader, Marissa Tomei. (Universal).
White Noise
(2005) Michael Keaton. Extras: "Making Contact: E.V.P. Experts," "Recording the Afterlife at Home," "Hearing Is Believing: Actual E.V.P. Sessions," commentary with director Geoffrey Sax and Michael Keaton. (Universal).
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September 9
Any Given Sunday Director's Cut
(1999) Dir.: Oliver Stone; Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, James Woods, Jamie Foxx, LL Cool J, Matthew Modine, Jim Brown, Lela Rochon, Lauren Holly, Ann-Margret, Aaron Eckhart. Extras: New "Anything Can Happen" retrospective, making-of document arty, commentary by Stone and Foxx, unused/extended scenes, music videos, gag reel, screen tests, more. (Warner).
Prom Night Special Edition
(1980) Dir.: Paul Lynch; Jamie Lee Curtis, Leslie Nielsen, Eddie Benton. In this celebrated "slasher" horror classic, four Hamilton High seniors are hiding a terrible secret. What happened to Robin Hammond six years ago was a game that turned into a horrible tragedy, and someone saw what they did ... someone waiting for gruesome revenge. Wearing a black hood and wielding an axe, a killer brutally slaughters the teenagers one by one at their high school prom. As the spotlight falls on the newly crowned prom king and queen, the psychopath will show everyone his new favorite game to play. Remastered and restored in 2K from the original 35mm camera negative with an all-new 5.1 surround mix. (Original 2.0 mono included). Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc. Extras: Commentary with director Paul Lynch and screenwriter William Gray, "The Horrors of Hamilton High: The Making of "Prom Night" featurette, collection of additional scenes added for television broadcast, original theatrical trailer & television spots. Blu-ray adds never-before-seen outtakes, motion still gallery. (Synapse Films/CAV Distributing).
Pumpkinhead (Collector's Edition)
(1988) Horror facorite with one of the scariest movie monsters of all time. When a group of teenagers inadvertently kill his only son, Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) seeks the powers of a backwoods witch to bring the child back to life. But instead, she invokes "the pumpkinhead" -- a monstrously clawed demon which, once reborn, answers only to Ed's bloodlust. Extras: New featurette "Remembering the Monster Kid: A Tribute to Stan Winston"; new interviews with producer Richard Weinman and actors John D'Aquino and Matthew Hurley; commentary by co-screenwriter Gary Gerani and Creature & FX Creators Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis; "Pumpkinhead Unearthed" making of documentary featuring "Evolution of a Demon," "The Cursed and the Damned," "The Tortured Soul of Ed Harley," "Constructing Vengeance," "Razorback Holler"; "Demonic Toys" featurette; behind-the-scenes footage; still gallery; theatrical trailer. (Scream Factory/Shout! Factory).
Young Frankenstein: 40th Anniversary
(1974) Dir.: Mel Brooks; Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Madeline Kahn. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc. Extras: Commentary by Mel Brooks; interviews with Marty Feldman, Gene Wilder and Cloris Leachman; "Inside the Lab: Secret Formulas to the Making of Young Frankenstein" featurette; "Blucher Button"; "It's Alive: Creating a Monster Classic" featurette; "Making FrankenSense of Young Frankenstein" featurette; "Transylvanian Lullaby: The Music of John Norris" featurette; deleted scenes and outtakes; production photo galleries; more. (Fox).
September 16
Eraserhead
(1977) David Lynch's 1977 debut feature, "Eraserhead," is both a lasting cult sensation and a work of extraordinary craft and beauty. With its mesmerizing black-and-white photography by Frederick Elmes, evocative sound design, and unforgettably enigmatic performance by Jack Nance, this visionary nocturnal odyssey remains one of American cinema's darkest dreams. Director-approved special edition with new 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack.
Extras: "Eraserhead Stories," a 2001 documentary by David Lynch on the making of the film; new high-definition restorations of six short films by Lynch: "Six Figures Getting Sick" (1966), "The Alphabet" (1968), "The Grandmother" (1970), "The Amputee, Part 1 and Part 2" (1974), and "Premonitions Following an Evil Deed" (1996), all with video introductions by Lynch; new and archival interviews with cast and crew; trailer. (The Criterion Collection).
September 23
Halloween The Complete Collection
Anchor Bay and Scream Factory have collaborated to bring home two gigantic boxed sets of all the "Halloween" films for the first time. A Deluxe Edition boasts 15 discs and contains all the "Halloween" feature films -- "Halloween," "Halloween II," "Halloween III: Season of the Witch," "Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers," "Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers," "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers," "Halloween H20," "Halloween: Resurrection," "Rob Zombie's Halloween" and "Rob Zombie's Halloween II." The set includes the never-before-released producers cut of "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers" as well as the ultra-rare network TV version of the original "Halloween," the network TV version of "Halloween II," plus the unrated versions of "Rob Zombie's Halloween and Halloween II." It's packed with hours of new bonus features including new interviews with cast and crew from the entire franchise. In response to years of fan feedback, the first "Halloween" will now also include the original mono audio track and the set will include both versions of the original "Halloween" -- the original Blu-ray release and the recently remastered 35th Anniversary version with the mono track added back in. It also comes with a limited edition 40-page book written by Michael Gingold of Fangoria Magazine. The collectible packaging will include a newly commissioned illustration on the outer case and each film will be in its own black Blu-ray case with the original theatrical one sheet as the key art. This deluxe set carries an SRP of $169.99. A 10-disc Edition includes the original theatrical versions of the "Halloween" films and will include select bonus features for $129.99. (Anchor Bay and Shout! Factory).
The Innocents
(1961) This genuinely frightening, exquisitely made supernatural gothic stars Deborah Kerr as an emotionally fragile governess who comes to suspect that there is something very, very wrong with her precocious new charges. A psychosexually intensified adaptation of Henry James's classic "The Turn of the Screw," co-written by Truman Capote and directed by Jack Clayton, "The Innocents" is a triumph of narrative economy and technical expressiveness, from its chilling sound design to the stygian depths of its widescreen cinematography by Freddie Francis. New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack.
Extras: Commentary featuring cultural historian Christopher Frayling; new interview with cinematographer John Bailey on director of photography Freddie Francis and the look of the film;
archival interviews with editor James Clark, Francis, and script supervisor Pamela Francis; trailer; an essay by critic Maitland McDonagh. (The Criterion Collection).
Macbeth
(1971) Roman Polanski imbues his unflinchingly violent adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy of ruthless ambition and murder in medieval Scotland with grit and dramatic intensity. Jon Finch and Francesca Annis are charged with fury and sex appeal as a decorated warrior rising in the ranks and his driven wife, scheming together to take the throne by any means. Co-adapted by Polanski and the great theater critic and dramaturge Kenneth Tynan, and shot against a series of stunning, stark British Isle landscapes, this version of Macbeth is among the most atmospheric and authentic of all Shakespeare films. Director-approved special edition features
new 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack.
Extras: New documentary about the making of the film, featuring interviews with director Polanski, producer Andrew Braunsberg, assistant executive producer Victor Lownes, and stars Francesca Annis and Martin Shaw; "Polanski Meets Macbeth," a 1971 documentary by Frank Simon featuring rare footage of the film's cast and crew at work; theatrical trailers; an essay by critic Terrence Rafferty. (The Criterion Collection).
September 30
Audrey Hepburn Blu-ray Collection
Three of Hepburn's most endearing films on Blu-ray for the first time: "Funny Face," "Sabrina" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's"; $29.99. (Warner).
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
(1974) The wildly prolific German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder paid homage to his cinematic hero Douglas Sirk with this update of that filmmaker's 1955 "All That Heaven Allows." A lonely widow (Brigitte Mira) meets a much younger Arab worker (El Hedi ben Salem) in a bar during a rainstorm. They fall in love, to their own surprise -- and to the outright shock of their families, colleagues, and drinking buddies. In "Ali: Fear Eats the Soul," Fassbinder expertly uses the emotional power of classic Hollywood melodrama to expose the racial tensions underlying contemporary German culture. New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack. Extras: Introduction from 2003 by filmmaker Todd Haynes; interviews from 2003 with actor Brigitte Mira and editor Thea Eymesz; Shahbaz Noshir's 2002 short "Angst isst Seele auf," which reunites Mira, Eymesz, and cinematographer Jurgen Jurges to tell the story, based on real events, of an attack by neo-Nazis on a foreign actor while on his way to a stage performance of Fassbinder's screenplay; "Signs of Vigorous Life: New German Cinema," a 1976 BBC program about the national film movement of which Fassbinder was a part; scene from Fassbinder's 1970 film The American Soldier that inspired "Ali"; trailer; an essay by critic Chris Fujiwara. (The Criterion Collection).
Ghost in the Shell 25th Anniversary Edition
(1995) Mamoru Oshii's cyberpunk thriller gets an all new HD transfer. 2029 - A female government cyber agent and the Internal Bureau of Investigations are hot on the trail of a "The Puppet Master" - a computer virus capable of invading cybernetic brains and altering its victim's memory. Created by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and codenamed "Project 2501", this 'hacker' is actually a prototype virtual agent which has now defied its makers by seeking asylum within a new host body outside of the electronic net. Now the two agencies must maneuver against each another in a violent, high-tech race to capture the omnipresent entity. (Anchor Bay).
Once Upon a Time in America Extended Edition
(1984) Robert De Niro, James Woods, Elizabeth McGovern, Joe Pesci, Burt Young, Tuesday Weld, Treat Williams, Danny Aiello, William Forsythe, Darlanne Fluegel. Sergio Leone's original vision for his tour-de-force makes its U.S. debut. This 251-minute cut -- with 22-minutes of restored footage -- was a restoration funded by The Film Foundation, the film preservation organization founded by Martin Scorsese, and its partner Gucci. Also available on DVD, UltraViolet. Read the original press release.Extras: A new 32-page book with rare photos and insightful notes that chronicle the movie's production history; the book also includes a letter written by Martin Scorsese. Other special features (available on all the editions) include commentary by film historian and critic Richard Schickel, and a making-of documentary "Once Upon a Time: Sergio Leone." (Warner).
Sundays and Cybele
(1962) In this provocative Academy Award winner from French director Serge Bourguignon, a psychologically damaged war veteran and a neglected child begin a startlingly intimate friendship -- one that ultimately ignites the suspicion and anger of his friends and neighbors in suburban Paris. Bourguignon's film makes thoughtful, humane drama out of potentially incendiary subject matter, and with the help of the sensitive cinematography of Henri Decae and a delicate score by Maurice Jarre, "Sundays and Cybele" becomes a stirring contemplation of an alliance between two troubled souls. New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack. Extras: New interviews with director Serge Bourguignon and actor Patricia Gozzi; "Le sourire" (1960), Bourguignon's Palme d'Or-winning short documentary; trailer; an essay by critic Ginette Vincendeau. (The Criterion Collection).
This Month's BR
(1980) Dir.: Paul Lynch; Jamie Lee Curtis, Leslie Nielsen, Eddie Benton. In this celebrated "slasher" horror classic, four Hamilton High seniors are hiding a terrible secret. What happened to Robin Hammond six years ago was a game that turned into a horrible tragedy, and someone saw what they did ... someone waiting for gruesome revenge. Wearing a black hood and wielding an axe, a killer brutally slaughters the teenagers one by one at their high school prom. As the spotlight falls on the newly crowned prom king and queen, the psychopath will show everyone his new favorite game to play. Remastered and restored in 2K from the original 35mm camera negative with an all-new 5.1 surround mix. (Original 2.0 mono included). Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc. Extras: Commentary with director Paul Lynch and screenwriter William Gray, "The Horrors of Hamilton High: The Making of "Prom Night" featurette, collection of additional scenes added for television broadcast, original theatrical trailer & television spots. Blu-ray adds never-before-seen outtakes, motion still gallery. (Synapse Films/CAV Distributing).
(1988) Horror facorite with one of the scariest movie monsters of all time. When a group of teenagers inadvertently kill his only son, Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) seeks the powers of a backwoods witch to bring the child back to life. But instead, she invokes "the pumpkinhead" -- a monstrously clawed demon which, once reborn, answers only to Ed's bloodlust. Extras: New featurette "Remembering the Monster Kid: A Tribute to Stan Winston"; new interviews with producer Richard Weinman and actors John D'Aquino and Matthew Hurley; commentary by co-screenwriter Gary Gerani and Creature & FX Creators Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis; "Pumpkinhead Unearthed" making of documentary featuring "Evolution of a Demon," "The Cursed and the Damned," "The Tortured Soul of Ed Harley," "Constructing Vengeance," "Razorback Holler"; "Demonic Toys" featurette; behind-the-scenes footage; still gallery; theatrical trailer. (Scream Factory/Shout! Factory).
Anchor Bay and Scream Factory have collaborated to bring home two gigantic boxed sets of all the "Halloween" films for the first time. A Deluxe Edition boasts 15 discs and contains all the "Halloween" feature films -- "Halloween," "Halloween II," "Halloween III: Season of the Witch," "Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers," "Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers," "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers," "Halloween H20," "Halloween: Resurrection," "Rob Zombie's Halloween" and "Rob Zombie's Halloween II." The set includes the never-before-released producers cut of "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers" as well as the ultra-rare network TV version of the original "Halloween," the network TV version of "Halloween II," plus the unrated versions of "Rob Zombie's Halloween and Halloween II." It's packed with hours of new bonus features including new interviews with cast and crew from the entire franchise. In response to years of fan feedback, the first "Halloween" will now also include the original mono audio track and the set will include both versions of the original "Halloween" -- the original Blu-ray release and the recently remastered 35th Anniversary version with the mono track added back in. It also comes with a limited edition 40-page book written by Michael Gingold of Fangoria Magazine. The collectible packaging will include a newly commissioned illustration on the outer case and each film will be in its own black Blu-ray case with the original theatrical one sheet as the key art. This deluxe set carries an SRP of $169.99. A 10-disc Edition includes the original theatrical versions of the "Halloween" films and will include select bonus features for $129.99. (Anchor Bay and Shout! Factory).
