Welcome back to the latest episode of Slipped Discs, where I give you a head’s up on what nerdy stuff is available to come home with you, because I still believe in physical media!
Once more, all this information comes from Blu-Ray.com, but they list everything that will be in the stores, whereas I shall provide you with what I feel is the interesting genre fare.
We’re in thin territory once more this week, my physical medians…I’m not sure that I should keep that nickname for you all…anyway, yeah, there’s not a lot this week. Which is good in that it encourages you to stay home in this time of the plague, but it’s bad as you need more stuff to watch while you responsibly stay home, and get these delivered! So, let’s jump right in.
Frankenstein: The True Story (1973) “A more psychological telling of the Mary Shelley story has a different kind of monster…” Another personal favorite, this was a more “grounded” retelling of the Mary Shelly classic, and truer to the novel than most other previous productions. It was produced for TV as a two-night mini-series (back when that was a thing, and before Netflix seems to have taken over this entertainment job), and it’s solid. The cast includes Leonard Whiting (Victor), Michael Sarrazin (the Creature), Jane Seymour, David McCallum, and James Freaking Mason. Oh, and Tom Baker in a bit part. Yet another great Scream Factory release, with a fantastic painted cover by Rondo Award Winning artist Mark Maddox. This is a must-buy for classic horror fans.
Doctor Who: Sylvester McCoy: Complete Season Three (1989) “In 1963 an old fashioned Police Call Box sat in a junk yard at 76 Totters Lane. An old man out and about exploring. A young girl wise beyond her years attending Coal Hill School. Two teachers become suspicious. Barbara and Ian suspect the girl is in trouble. They follow her home. The girl, Susan Foreman, vanishes into the junkyard. Barbara and Ian investigate. They discovered the Police Box. “It’s alive!” says Ian, he feels a faint vibration coming from within. The girls grandfather returns. He confronts the two teachers who accuse him of holding the girl inside the Police Box. They hear her call out to him from inside. Barbara and Ian push their way in and discover a world they never thought possible.” Ok Blu-Ray.com, I swear, I really am available for writing these gists for you. Don’t let that description, or the title of this set, fool you. This is the 26th (and final) season of the Classic Who era, and it’s a solid set of stories: Battlefield, Ghost Light, The Curse of Fenric & Survival. If you’re an old-school Whovian, you definitely need these Blu-Rays in your collection.
The Grudge (2020) “A house is cursed by a vengeful ghost that curses those who enter it with a violent death.” Is this a quick release? It feels like a quick release, it was only out in January. Anyway, I feel like I’m one of the few people that liked this movie (see my review), and that’s sad. Hopefully it will find it’s audience now on Blu, 4K, and a steelbook from some website called Zavvi, but it’s region B, and I don’t have a region-free player, so I’ll probably just get the 4K.
April Fool’s Day (1986) “When Muffy St. John invited her college friends up to her parents’ secluded island home for the time of their lives, she just forgot to tell them it just might be the last time of their lives. As soon as the kids arrive on the island, someone starts trimming the guest list…one murder at a time. And what starts out as a weekend of harmless “April Fool’s Day” pranks turns into a bloody battle for survival.” Think Clue meets Friday the 13th. This is actually a very fun and clever horror-comedy that pokes a little fun at the “holiday themed” slasher flicks, and it’s a favorite of mine. This one is getting the patented Scream Factory Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray treatment, plus, it has Thomas F. Wilson, aka Biff Tannen himself, so you if you enjoy 80s horror, or horror with a sense of humor, you should check it out.
Come to Daddy (2019) “A man in his thirties travels to a remote cabin to reconnect with his estranged father.” I don’t know anything about this, but it looks like a horror/thriller with Elijah Wood sporting a very weird mustache on the cover. Hey, I said pickings were slim this week. I wasn’t kidding.
The Wizard (1989) “A boy and his brother run away from home and hitch cross country with the help of a girl they meet to compete in the ultimate video game championship.” AKA, a 100 minute advertisement for the Nintendo Power Glove. Ok, ok, calm down. Yes, this is a cult movie with a nice following, mostly of NES kids, but I was never a fan. Probably because I never had a NES growing up. Yeah, really. Anyway, this is a new (say it with me now) patented Scream Factory Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray. Which the movie needed, as the previous release looked terrible. This Blu is based on a recent 4K scan of the print, so if you love this movie, you should get this release (insert power up video game joke here).
1917 (2019) “At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers, Schofield and Blake, are given a seemingly impossible mission. In a race against time, they must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers, with Blake’s own brother among them.” Ok, yes, this is not a genre movie. But it’s an amazing feat of cinematic technique, has a compelling story, and is about an era that we do not get a lot of movies about, World War One. It’s intense, moving, stuffed to the gills with British genre film actors, an absolute spectacle, and you should absolutely watch it. And, again, not much else is out this week. Available on Blu, 4K, and in a Best Buy exclusive Steelbook.
Other titles of note: um, there’s a movie called Cabal, about an assassin vs a serial killer…and that’s pretty much it. Thin damn week, my medians!
Let me know if I should keep with that nickname for you all, which of these are a must-buy for you, a pass, or which ones I missed!