Halloween is near and in the spirit of this scary celebration of witches, ghosts, ghouls and goblins, let’s take a look at some of the more frightening movies or television properties recently released in the Blu-ray format to startle mature audiences.
Walking Dead: The Complete Fourth Season (Anchor Bay Entertainment, Not Rated, $79.99) — The unwelcome return of the Governor and his assault on the prison is finally resolved but Sheriff Rick Grimes and his valiant band of survivors must still deal with a zombie apocalypse with nowhere to hide.
With the group now scattered around the Georgia area, and all in search of the mysterious sanctuary called Terminus, viewers can binge-watch the 16 episodes of the season in this five-disk Blu-ray set to find out the fates of Michonne, Carl Grimes, Daryl Dixon, Glenn Rhea, Maggie Greene and the kindly Hershel Greene.
For anyone not aware of one of the best horror television shows in the history of the medium, AMC has delivered an episodic maelstrom since 2010 (currently back for its fifth season) based on the famed comic book series concocted by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Charlie Adlard.
A word of caution for those with king-sized televisions, this might be one show a bit too much to consume in high-definition due to the incredibly graphic nature of eliminating the undead. However, die-hard horror fans in love with Grindhouse gore will find the series the finest of cabernets.
Frightening extras: A satisfying selection of six optional commentary tracks and three extended episodes combine with a short featurette for every show to deliver plenty of production information. Additionally, I especially enjoyed the 19-minute look at KNB Studios, the effects house that brings the dead to life.
Godzilla (Warner Home Video, Rated PG-13, $35.99) — Proving that scary creatures come in all sizes, fans of a massive Japanese superstar found plenty of reason to scream “Godzilla” as the big lug returned to theaters this summer.
His presence, wrapped tightly around a story about the disastrous dangers of human arrogance and nuclear power, plays out around a family drama starring Bryan (“Breaking Bad”) Cranston as a power plant supervisor turned whistleblower who is out to uncover a conspiracy of horrific proportions.
Although it would have been nice to see our atomic fire-breathing alpha predator earlier in the action, this movie attempted to bring a “Jaws” type of fear and anticipation to audiences with a delayed appearance of the mighty beast. However, once he shows up to battle a pair of pesky daikaiju (large, strange creatures), it is a monster mash of epic proportions.
Frightening extras: As set of faux-documentaries lasting about 15 minutes total shed light upon the classified “Project Monarch” and the government’s attempt to keep Godzilla hidden from the world.
Halloween: The Complete Collection, Limited Deluxe Edition (Anchor Bay Entertainment, Rated R, $169.99) — One of cinema’s most iconic serial killers of the past three decades gets celebrated in this massive, 15-disk Blu-ray set covering his entire horrifying career. Michael Meyers — the disturbingly silent, white-masked, butcher-knife-wielding brother of Laurie Strode — comes to life through 10 films documenting the best and worst of his deadly adventures.
The average horror fan will appreciate the 1978 beginning “John Carpenter’s Halloween” (the original supervised transfer, remastered 35th anniversary edition and extended cut are included), “Halloween H2O: Twenty Years Later” (a return of actress Jamie Lee Curtis as Michael’s sister) and sort of admire, purely for Rob Zombie’s passionate homage to the original, “Rob Zombie’s Halloween: The Director’s Cut” (a reboot that ratchets up the nudity and gore levels).
However, it will take the most hard-core devotees of this legend to stay focused on many of the other, less-than-great movies in the set including “Halloween II,” “Halloween III: Season of the Witch,” “Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Meyers,” Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Meyers, “Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers: Extended Producer’s Cut,” “Halloween Resurrection” and “Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2: Directors Cut.”
Frightening extras: An outstanding collection of bonus content becomes a “Halloween” connoisseur’s dream. Just some of the gems include two commentary tracks with original Halloween director John Carpenter, three with Jamie Lee Curtis and two with Rob Zombie, an over 4.5-hour documentary on “Rob Zombie’s Halloween,” an almost two hour look at the Halloween films’ shooting locations from the show “Horror’s Hallowed Grounds” and hours of production featurettes, deleted scenes, trailers, still galleries and more optional commentary tracks for each film.
Heck, Anchor Bay has even tossed a television cut of “Halloween II” and a full color booklet about the franchise’s legacy. However, conspicuously absent is the 2006 documentary “Halloween: 25 Years of Terror,” making the set not quite complete.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition (Dark Sky Films, Rated R, $49.98) — Forty years ago, a weekend getaway by a bunch of teens in Texas turned into an event marking the beginnings of modern horror cinema. Movie audiences were introduced to the cannibal killer Leatherface and his sadistic family and the slasher/torture genre of films was born.
Shocking at the time, today’s viewers won’t be too startled by what director Tobe Hooper concocted back in 1974 but his monstrous human remains a cultural icon for his use of a chainsaw and grotesque mask of skin every Halloween season.
Most important to note for this Blu-ray release, even though meticulously mastered in 4k (Ultra High Definition) and 1080p resolution, I’m astounded how great the movie looks considering its 16mm film stock origins.
Frightening extras: Over six hours of optional commentary tracks starring Mr. Hooper, cast and crew should offer as much information as any human should need about this disturbing movie. What, not enough? The 4-disk set also features two documentaries, over an hour long each — Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Shocking Truth and Flesh Wounds: Seven Stories of the Saw — that, well, completely dissects the making of the film and its legacy.
From Dusk to Dawn: Season One (Entertainment One, Rated TV-14, $49.98) —The continuing adventures of the homicidal Gecko brothers came to light through a 10-episode series available on Netflix earlier this year.
Essentially expanding upon director Robert Rodriguez’ twisted 1996 cult horror comedy (taking that two-hour movie to 452 minutes), viewers find the sibling criminals Seth and Richie (played by D.J. Cotrona and Zane Holtz) on the run from the law and up against a group of vampires hanging out south of the border.
Now available on a three-disk Blu-ray set, viewers get a high-definition dose of gore and violence in a crime drama mixing in encounters with vivacious bloodsuckers.
Frightening extras: Listen to an optional commentary tracks on six episodes with some starring Mr. Rodriguez (now executive producer) along with the cast and crew. Also, enjoy a roughly 30-minute, question-and-answer session with the cast and Mr. Rodriguez at the Texas’ infamous Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.
Grimm: Season Three (Universal Studio Home Entertainment, Unrated, $59.98) — While our favorite Portland homicide detective Nick Burkhardt dealt with being tuned into a zombie, he and his pals returned for another 22-episode season on NBC, now compacted into a five-disk Blu-ray set for the binge-watcher in the family.
For those unaware, the Grimm Burkhardt is a protector of humanity against dangerous fairytale-like creatures called Wesens that mask themselves as humans. Along with partner Detective Hank Griffin, sweetheart Juliette Silverton and a big bad wolf named Monroe, they go about either eradicating or taming the beastly population every episode.
Amidst some gruesome murders and serial killings by an assortment of really cool Wesens, this season focused on the pregnant Hexenbiest Adalind, trouble from the mighty Wesen Council and Monroe and Rosalee’s relationship.
Overall, the solid mix of horror, drama and humor — along with some awesome make-up effects — make the show a “must see” for any fan of the supernatural.
Frightening extras: Let’s leave the deleted scenes, gag reel, marketing featurettes and couple of digital series for later and instead dive into the Grimm Guide.
This virtual, handwritten, antiquated tome sheds light on 14 of the creatures on the show including the part-dragon, part hell-hound Hollentier and a naughty child collector (dressed in a Santa suit no less) called a Krampus.
Each entry features a colorful illustration, short description of the Wesen and a video clip embedded in the book highlighting it in action.
The Originals: The Complete First Season (Warner Home Video, Unrated, $69.97) — The dangerous vampire werewolf hybrid Klaus Mikaelson leaves the cozy confines of Mystic Falls and returns to the city that he and his family were exiled from, New Orleans, in this first season of the CW Network spin-off from the cable channel’s popular “The Vampire Diaries.”
Specifically, Klaus unites with brother Elijah and sister Rebekah to challenge a former fanged protégé Marcel for control of the city, and the 22-episode horror soap opera begins.
Imagine “Dallas” starring an attractive group of vampires and witches rather than oil barons and that pretty much sums up the story featuring loads of angst, twists of fate, back-stabbing, a pregnant werewolf and occasional bouts of magic and neck munching.
Frightening extras: Besides an optional commentary track on the pilot episode from creator Julie Plec and director Chris Grismer, the four-disk Blu-ray set offers an intriguing featurette on mixing fact and The Original’s fiction in the French Quarter and an abbreviated exploration of Klaus and his Mikaelson vampire clan.
• Joseph Szadkowski can be reached at jszadkowski@washingtontimes.com.
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