I’ve always loved the William Castle ghost film and the remake of “Thirteen Ghosts” by Steve Beck. Back in 2001 when it was being panned, I appreciated its ambition, amazing special effects, and great narrative. Now, many years later, horror fans have finally caught up to what a great, radical re-imagining of William Castle’s ghost film is. It’s a hard rock, balls to the wall ride that compensates for the lack of ghost glasses with excellent special effects, and some fun gore and grue.
Category Archives: Collector’s Den
Friday the 13th Collection: Deluxe Edition [Blu-ray]
Full Disclosure: The “Deluxe Edition” was purchased at my own leisure and not provided by Scream Factory; the review presented is completely honest.
2020 has been filled with a ton of surprises for movie fans, and one of the better ones was the sudden introduction of the Deluxe “Friday the 13th Collection” from Scream Factory. While there have been a ton of re-releases since the initial DVD set in 2004, Scream Factory has never been prone to just re-packaging the same movies in to “new” sets, so it was no shock when the Deluxe Collection for “Friday the 13th” was announced, fans crashed Scream Factory’s site to order the set. Suffice to say, Scream Factory simply hasn’t failed horror buffs and Jason Voorhees fanatics. What began as a means of ripping off “Halloween” in 1979, Sean Cunningham and screenwriter Victor Miller’s summer camp slasher film became an iconic pop culture sensation and long running franchise.
Little Monsters (1989): Vestron Video Collector’s Series [Blu-Ray/Digital]
After spending a long time without an actual release, the Vestron Video Collector’s Series is back with two new titles in time for October. One of the biggies is “Little Monsters,” the 1989 cult classic that’s been considerably out of print for years and been handed some flimsy DVD releases. Now on Blu-Ray, “Little Monsters” is available for a new generation of blooming horror fans. As someone that lovingly looks at “Little Monsters” as a childhood favorite, I’m happy to declare that (despite a tonal change in the second half) the movie has lost little of its luster.
The Goonies (1985) [4K Ultra HD/Blu-Ray/Digital]
Even though I was born in the eighties, I don’t have a particular connection with “The Goonies” as while it’s mostly considered a masterpiece, I’ve only ever considered it just pretty good. Director Richard Donner’s adventure film is the Hardy Boys Meets Indiana Jones and for the most part it’s an entertaining call back to fodder like “The East Side Kids,” which keeps in line with Spielberg’s ode to his childhood cinema.
Beetlejuice (1988) [4K Ultra HD/Blu-Ray/Digital]
We’re nearing the beginning of October so as is the mandate to keep reality from collapsing, we have another Tim Burton classic re-released and updated. Burton’s horror comedy classic “Beetlejuice” gets another big re-release for physical media collectors, allowing fans to re-visit the demented and dark supernatural comedy in a 4K UHD upgrade. Of course Burton’s film is being released in various other editions online, including Steelbook.
TV on DVD: Cursed Films: Season One [Blu-Ray]/James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction (DVD)
Was “The Crow” cursed? Did “Poltergeist” bring a hex upon the entire cast? Were there real satanic forces behind “The Exorcist”? Did “Twilight Zone: The Movie” conjure up bad luck and ultimately a curse? Well, hell no on all fronts. The thing about “Cursed Films” (now on Blu-Ray from Shudder and Image Entertainment), is that if you’re a movie buff and horror fan, you’ve heard about literally everything that’s explored in “Cursed Films.” At five episodes and thirty minutes an episode, “Cursed Films” basically goes over the same material we’ve seen or read about a thousand times but in greater length.
The Wretched (2020) [Blu-Ray]
After being sent to spend the summer at his father’s, a teenage boy starts to suspect that his something is afoot at his neighbor’s house which leads him to look into a potential witch next door.