dvd

One of the best documentaries I've seen in the past few years (and I've seen a lot of them -- I like documentaries almost as much as horror films) is Justin Johnson, Aaron Marshall and Erik Mauck's Zombie Girl: The Movie. This fantastically entertaining tale follows first-time filmmaker Emily Hagins as she directs her first feature length film, a zombie movie entitled Pathogen. Big deal, you might be thinking. Turns out it is a pretty big deal when the director is 12 years old...

Zombie Girl follows Emily as she learns all about making a film firsthand. With her mother (who serves as her production assistant, driver, special FX tech, agent, and mom) at her side, Emily deals with the rigors of filmmaking, editing, budgets, interviews, and schoolwork. It's a cute coming of age story about how everyone should follow their dreams -- wherever those dreams might take them.

R2Films will be releasing the festival hit on DVD this November. Not only will you get the full 90 minute documentary about Emily's path from fledgling filmmaker to official director, you'll also get the finished film, Pathogen, the Q&A at the premiere of the film, interviews about Emily's second feature (the since completed The Retelling) and her third (which she's working on currently), plus trailers. It's a nice package for $19.99 -- and part of the proceeds from each disc sold will go toward financing Emily's newest project. You're not only getting a cool documentary, but you're helping a young filmmaker keep honing her craft. It's a win any way you slice it.

Hit the jump to check out the official trailer for Zombie Girl.

With the turnaround time between a film's theatrical release and home video debut getting shorter and shorter (to the point where some movies premiere on VOD services before they ever play in a theater...) it seems odd that we've had to wait so long to get our hands on Adam Green's latest, Frozen.

The latest chiller (pun fully intended) from the director behind Hatchet played the festival circuit earlier this year, but won't be available to rubes like me who live in the middle of nowhere until September 28th. That's just over a month away still, but to keep audiences interested there's a trailer for the DVD and Blu-ray release now available for your perusal. It looks like the regular trailers to me, but there may be some slight differences. I didn't do a frame by frame analysis, so have it if you're bored. Okay, I didn't do any analysis at all -- I went purely on memory.

Anyway, Frozen stars Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore and Kevin Zegers as three friends taking in a day of skiing. They hope to get one last trip down the mountain, but unluckily for them, the lift gets shut down for the night while they're high in the air. No one knows they're there -- they're stranded on a lift in the freezing cold on a Sunday night and the resort doesn't open again until Friday. Scary.

The discs come chock full of extras, including a commentary track, loads of featurettes, deleted scenes, and more. If you have a Blu-ray player and grab that version, you'll be treated to an extra commentary track as well. Nice to see DVD owners have become the red-headed step-children of the industry. Now I know how VHS people felt...

Hit the jump to watch the clip.

With Joe Johnston's remake of The Wolfman, I expected rich, gothic horror and instead I got a hollow shell of a monster mash with a comic book action movie feel. I didn't hate it outright, but I forgot the film's details the very second I stood up from my cushy theater seat. Maybe House of the Wolf Man deliver what monster fans were looking for?

The black and white indie homage, from writer-director Eban McGarr, is finally seeing the light of day on DVD, September 28. McGarr has created an intentional throwback to the Universal Monster series, crafting House of the Wolf Man as an unofficial sequel following the studio's House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula. The film re-unites Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, and, of course, the Wolf Man in a tale about a spooky old castle, inherited by new, unsuspecting owners.

Will it deliver where The Wolfman failed? We'll all find out very soon...

(via Shock Till You Drop)

At long last, fans of Nobuhiko Obayashi's insane cult film House aka Hausu will be able to add the film to their DVD collection thanks to the fine folks at Criterion. That's not exactly news, since we've known Criterion was going to release a special DVD edition for awhile now. What is news is that they've finally given the film an official release date.

That's right, mark your calendars for October 26th -- because that's when the crazy cult flick will be in stores and ready for purchase according to the Criterion website. I'd tell you a bit about Hausu, but honestly it's just one of those films you have to see for yourself. Descriptions really don't do it justice. What I can describe is the list of what Criterion's planning for the new release. Check it out.

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
• Constructing a House, a new video piece featuring interviews with director Nobuhiko Obayashi, story scenarist and daughter of the director Chigumi Obayashi, and screenwriter Chiho Katsura
• Emotion, a 1966 experimental film by Obayashi
• New video appreciation by director Ti West (House of the Devil)
• Theatrical trailer
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• PLUS: An essay by Chuck Stephens

Jump past the break to check out a trailer for the film.

Based on the acclaimed graphic novel about the small town of Barrow, Alaska being overrun by vampires when it's plunged into darkness for thirty days, 30 Days of Night is one of those horror films that you either like or dislike. It's not good enough to love, and it's not bad enough to hate, but for a good portion of horror fans it's a solid little flick that doesn't get enough recognition. For those eager for a follow-up, you only have to wait until October for a chance to see the direct-to-DVD sequel, 30 Days of Night: Dark Days.

As Arrow in the Head has brought to our attention via Blu-ray.com, the sequel, which stars Kiele Sanchez, Rhys Coiro, Mia Kirshner, Harold Perrineau and, of course, the uber sexy Diora Baird, will hit shelves October 5th. It will be released as a two-disc DVD/Blu-ray combo, and will play host to a modicum of special features, including:

-Filmmaker commentary
-PS3 Wallpaper Theme
-Vampires Exist: The Gritty Realism of Dark Days
-Graphic Inspirations: Comic to Film (BD-exclusive)

For those hesitant to give a direct-to-DVD sequel a look, the plot of the film apparently adheres pretty closely to the plot of the second book of the comic series, It was co-written by Ben Ketai, who co-wrote and directed the 30 Days of Night mini-series Dust to Dust, with Steve Niles, who wrote the freakin' comic. The plot takes Stella, survivor of the events of 30 Days of Night, to Los Angeles as she seeks revenge on Lilith, the vampire who orchestrated the assault on Barrow.

Adam Gierasch's remake of Night of the Demons has had a long and arduous road to release. The title got bumped around numerous times -- slotted for release then delayed -- and then it just sort of disappeared completely. Today, we have yet another release date for the film.

The good news is that it appears as though the movie will finally be viewable on October 19th of this year. The bad news is that the title, once slated for a theatrical release, has now been relegated to going direct to DVD and Blu-ray.

This isn't an absolutely shocking move -- while the film has an exciting B-movie cast including Shannon Elizabeth, Tiffany Shepis, Monica Keena, and Edward Furlong, it's not exactly a group guaranteed to get people to pony up theater prices to see it on the big screen. The original is a cult favorite, so there's not even a huge audience who'd view it theatrically based on its lineage.

The film tells the tale of Angela -- a young girl who throws the ultimate Halloween party at a haunted New Orleans mansion. After the police shut the shindig down, Angela and six other people stay behind -- and soon find themselves trapped inside with a malevolent force. Gory hijinks are sure to ensue.

E1 Entertainment is bringing Night of the Demons to DVD and Blu-ray -- no word yet on the suggested retail price or what extras might be included, but we'll be sure to share them as soon as they're announced. This might not be the perfect ending for this project, but it is at least nice to know we'll finally be able to see the film.

[Via Bloody-Disgusting]

Michael J. Bassett's (Wilderness) Solomon Kane was one of the films during Fantastic Fest '09 that was more or less enjoyed by most people. Save for me, of course. But that's the way things usually go. Despite my disliking the film as a whole, I did find James Purefoy's performance as the puritan mercenary drawn back into a life of violence to be top notch, and the visuals to be particularly stunning. Although the film never got a proper release, DVD Active has revealed the details of the film's UK DVD and Blu Ray release on June 28th. With a DVD price set at £19.99 and the Blu Ray going for £24.99, the discs boast a wide variety of special features, including:

- Commentaries by Michael J. Bassett and James Purefoy
- Video introduction by Michael J. Bassett
- The Making of Solomon Kane
- Montage Clip
- Interviews with producers Samuel Hadida & Paul Berrow, director Michael J. Bassett, actor James Purefoy and composer Klaus Badelt
- Deleted scene: Cave Fight
- Special Effects: The Creation of the Fire Demon
- Artworks by Greg Staples
- Trailer

Once I finally splurge and buy a Blu Ray player (and, you know, a TV), I'm seriously considering adding this one to my collection. While I didn't like the film, per se, I found it to be enjoyable, much in the same way anything directed by Roland Emmerich or Michael Bay is. To me it didn't do anything special beyond being mindless entertainment. Others, especially the majority of my Horror squad brethren, will disagree, but everyone knows it's my opinion that truly matters.

Thanks to Bloody Disgusting for the heads up.

I'll be honest, the concept of Lionsgate's new film Burning Bright has seemed absurd since I first heard about it a year or so ago. Briana Evigan plays a 20-year-old girl who's forced to care for her younger autistic brother and live with her stepfather when her mother dies unexpectedly.

Things get worse for Evigan when she learns her step-dad has drained her college fund so he can buy a Bengal tiger for his home zoo. If that weren't crazy enough, Evigan has to go toe-to-paw with the tiger when it escapes its cage during a...wait for it...hurricane! It's like the writers got together and threw darts at a board filled with unrelated story ideas, and whatever they hit went into the screenplay.

My griping aside, I'm sure some people are interested in seeing the film -- which also features Garret Dillahunt and Meatloaf (the singer, not the food...). The good news is, you'll be able to just that when Burning Bright makes its DVD debut on August 17th. In the meantime, check out the trailer by clicking past the jump.

Horror lovers will be pleased to know that there's another new distribution imprint coming -- one with the goal of bringing new horror from around the globe to DVD and Blu-ray.

Twitch's Todd Brown works for XYZ Films and broke the news yesterday that his employers will be teaming up with Celluloid Dreams to create a new label devoted to dark and disturbing cinema: Celluloid Nightmares. Brown will be Head of Acquisitions for the new label, meaning he'll be able to not only promote great films through Twitch, but will also be able to work on procuring them so they can be seen by audiences who will love them as much as he does.

Celluloid Nightmares has already announced their first two titles: Simon Rumley's Red, White, & Blue and the Colombian thriller Saluda al diablo de mi parte. Brown says he hopes land more movies before the end the film market. The company will also be able to release genre titles from parent distributor Celluloid Dreams' library, including films like Marebito and In My Skin.

The announcement of Celluloid Nightmares comes hot on the heels of IFC's unveiling of IFC Midnight, a label that will release similar kinds of films. There's sure to be competition in the suddenly crowded foreign and underground horror market, but it's the fans who seem poised to win out in the end.

While there's still no word on when we might see a DVD or Blu-ray version of Breck Eisner's remake of George Romero's The Crazies here in the States, an alert Dread Central reader has spotted a listing for the film on Amazon Canada.

If the online retailer is to be believed, the disc will be available for purchase on June 29th. Extra features listed include audio commentary, The Romero Template featurette, Paranormal Pandemics featurette, a behind-the-scenes featurette, a Rob Hall Makeup featurette, and a still gallery.

Eisner's re-interprtetation stars Timothy Olyphant as the sheriff of Ogden Marsh. When a mysterious toxin enters the water supply, the residents of the small town turn into homicidal maniacs. The film garnered lots of positive buzz -- particularly for a horror film remake -- and currently has a 71% fresh rating over at Rottentomatoes.com.

Our own Luke Mullen enjoyed the film as well. Check out his review and keep it here for more news on when The Crazies will infect your DVD player.