"THE BATES HAUNTING" from Uncork'd Entertainment - on Digital and DVD August 6

UNCORK’D ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF "THE BATES HAUNTING"

LOS ANGELES, CA –Uncork’d Entertainment proudly announces the multi-platform release of  Byron Turk’s (Storm Chasers, Flipping Boston) The Bates Haunting, dubbed by the director as “Scream meets Scooby Doo”.  The indie thriller was shot in rural Pennsylvania, at Arasapha Farm’s original Bates Motel and Haunted Hayride:  one of America’s top Halloween attractions.  The Bates Haunting will be available August 6 for rental and digital, and available for sale on DVD a few months later.

“I’m a huge fan of the many Haunted House attractions around the country,” commented Uncork’d Entertainment’s Keith Leopard.  “When I saw The Bates Haunting and discovered that it was actually filmed at a real haunted house and hayride in Pennsylvania, I wanted to be a part of getting this film out to the public.  I think everyone will enjoy this movie as it reminds me of the fun horror films I saw in the theaters growing up before the advent of home video.”

Agnes Rickover (Jean Louise O’Sullivan, Valley Peaks, Bullrun) visited the Bates Motel and Haunted Hayride looking for some Halloween fear and fun.  Instead, she witnessed a tragedy:  the fiery death of her best friend Lily making her dramatic debut on the Hayride.    After a year spent obsessing over the horrible accident, Agnes takes a job at The Haunted Hayride, hoping to face her trauma and to exorcise her demons.  She thinks this could be an investigative opportunity as well, and when her new co-workers end up victims of mysterious accidents, she knows it is.  With her new sidekick Clyde, Agnes must figure out whom – or what – is behind all of this mayhem before more people die.

The film co-stars Zachary Fletcher in his debut starring role as Junior Bates and the late Ryan Dunn.  Featuring a wild cast of characters ranging from ghouls and goblins to an overzealous chainsaw wielding theater actor, The Bates Haunting is part haunt, part hunt, full of spirits and the spirited!  Agnes and Clyde are facing certain death – their only escape route through a crowd of entertained customers who think it’s just a show, but for them it’s a scary, shocking showdown!

About Uncork’d Entertainment
Uncork’d Entertainment was founded in 2012 by Keith Leopard, a home entertainment industry veteran with more than 23 years of experience in purchasing, acquisitions, merchandising, marketing and analysis of major studio and independent supplier to the home entertainment market.  The Company focuses on distribution in four areas: Theatrical, Physical Home Entertainment, Digital Media and Television, and has secured relationships across all platforms to ensure your film reaches the widest audience possible. Uncork’d’s latest releases include The Dinosaur Project, The Depraved and Frostbite!, and future releases Cold Blooded and Stalled.  For more information, visit http://www.uncorked-ent.com

For more information about The Bates Haunting, please visit:  https://www.facebook.com/TheBatesHaunting

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"THE BATES HAUNTING" from Uncork'd Entertainment - on Digital and DVD August 6

FALCÓN -- DVD review by porfle

Detective fiction oftens takes the main character for a pretty rough ride on the rollercoaster of  life, and this is rarely more true than in Acorn Media's 2-disc DVD set, FALCÓN.  Noir doesn't get much darker than this--in fact, the various physical and spiritual ordeals suffered by Spanish chief homicide detective Javier Falcón (Marton Csokas) in these two grueling feature-length episodes almost makes "The Maltese Falcon" look like an episode of "Three's Company."

Csokas (LORD OF THE RINGS, PAWN,  ROMULUS MY FATHER) is an intense, somber sort of an actor, making him ideal for the lead role in these grim, disturbing,  and often nightmarish stories.  Indeed, once you get used to the murky photography and jittery camerawork, you get the feeling that what we're seeing isn't an objective account of events but rather how Falcón himself interprets them through the prism of his deeply troubled psyche. 

On one hand, he's a brilliant cop who's upright and reliable, though emotionally distant, but on the other hand he's so on the verge of falling apart it's as though his life is held together by wheat paste and chicken wire.  His impending divorce from wife Inés (Emilia Fox) is a daily pain,  made more so when she starts having an affair with his boss.  And his younger partner José Luis Ramírez (Charlie Creed-Miles, who played young apprentice monk David in THE FIFTH ELEMENT) is after his job, not only because he's ambitious but because he has a needy family and a sick child to support.  And to top it off, Falcón is a drug addict, haunting back alleys for his daily fix.

The first story, "The Blind Man of Seville",  plunks us down in the middle of all this before we've had a chance to acclimate ourselves to the inside of Falcón's head, so it all seems rather dreary and unpleasant at first.  Our hero investigates the murder of a wealthy restauranteur who's been tied up and forced to watch something--his eyelids having literally been "peeled"--which, as  fate would have it,  ends up being connected in a deep and very personal way to Falcón and his own family, including sister Pilar (Carla Sánchez), aspiring bullfighter Rafa (James Floyd), and, most importantly, their late father who was a nationally-beloved painter.

The way in which the case is linked to his family continues to deepen until each new revelation becomes almost unbearable to both Falcón and those caught in its wake.  People he knows personally become victims forced to see and hear things before dying, and even the childhood memories which haunt him seem to implicate him as well.  The one bright spot is a desperate liason with a beautiful suspect,  the restauranteur's wife Consuelo (Hayley Atwell), but the most devastating twists lay ahead as Falcón suffers a series of shocks that will put him right out of action and threaten his future on the police force.

By the time we get to story number two, "The Silent and the Damned", we know the score and are ready to settle right into the surrealistic nightmare that is Javier Falcón's life.  How screwed up things are for him and how he wades through it all become a fascination once you're attuned to the dirgelike rhythm and oppressive ambience of this show.  The murder mystery, involving the lethal fallout from an oppressive regime in South America, isn't even all that interesting until, like everything else, Falcón's personal life gets wrapped up in it like a shark in a fishing net.

The gore factor is ratcheted up a few notches right off the bat, with a tongue cut out during the initial murder and, later, a closeup of a cadaver's eyeball being removed from its socket (to gain entry into a locked room guarded by iris identification).  The latter is just one sign that Falcón, having been barred from official duties after uncovering a cesspool of corruption involving his own superiors, is past the point of fooling around.  Just how far he'll go before this episode's over is a continuing source of surprise and delight.

The series is set in Saville, Spain and features some beautiful locations along with a generous view of the city's gritty underbelly, all filtered through the main character's off-kilter perceptions.  (And dark--did I mention dark?)  As in the "Maigret" series with Michael Gambon as a French police detective, these non-English characters all have British accents, but that didn't bother me.  Both lead and supporting performances are top-notch, with some nice guest turns from Bernard Hill (TITANIC, LORD OF THE RINGS), Rosie Perez as a tough-as-nails mystery woman, and "Deep Space Nine" alumnus Alexander Siddig.   

The 2-disc DVD set from Acorn Media is in 16:9 widescreen with Dolby 5.1 surround sound and English subtitles.  Extras include "Blind Man of Seville: Behind the Scenes", a tour of Seville with Robert Wilson (author of the novels), and photo galleries.

I didn't like FALCÓN at first--its unrelentingly downbeat atmosphere and uber-noir quality took some getting used to.  Once a taste is acquired for it, though, this is terrific stuff--powerful, hard-hitting, and very engrossing,  gradually taking us farther and farther down the rabbit hole to the point where I found it downright mesmerizing.

Buy it at Amazon.com

FALCÓN -- DVD review by porfle

"HALLOWEEN 35th Anniversary Blu-Ray™" -- John Carpenter's Classic Arrives Sept.24th

Michael Myers is back...and he’s never looked better!

ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT PROUDLY PRESENTS "HALLOWEEN 35TH ANNIVERSARY BLU-RAY

Featuring all-new HD transfer supervised by Dean Cundey, New 7.1 Audio Mix, New Commentary Track by John Carpenter & Jamie Lee Curtis and Never-Before-Seen Bonus Features--Coming Home Again September 24th

Beverly Hills, CA – In 1978, Compass International Pictures released an indie horror film by an up and coming director and a largely unknown cast. Presented by the late Moustapha Akkad, the film cost $325,000 and ended up not only becoming one of the most successful independent motion pictures of its time, but single handedly created the genre of the modern horror film along with the first iconic (via a painted-over William Shatner mask) cinematic slasher!

Its global success spawned seven sequels, a reboot directed by Rob Zombie and a sequel-to-the-reboot, as well as created generations of grateful fans. The director’s name is John Carpenter and the film was Halloween. This year marks the 35th Anniversary of the timeless thriller and to celebrate, Anchor Bay Entertainment is bringing back the terrifying original as it’s never been seen or heard before!

Anchor Bay Entertainment and Trancas International proudly announce the September 24th release of the 35th Anniversary Blu-ray™ release of Halloween. For this very special release, Anchor Bay and Trancas went back to the vaults to present this legendary terror classic as never before, including creating an all-new HD transfer personally supervised by the film’s original cinematographer, Academy-Award® nominee Dean Cundey (Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Apollo 13, the Back to the Future trilogy), a new 7.1 audio mix (as well as the original mono audio), a brand-new feature length audio commentary by writer/director John Carpenter and star Jamie Lee Curtis, an all-new bonus feature with Ms. Curtis, as well as selected legacy bonus features from previous ABE releases. Available in a collectible limited-edition book-style package (available only for the first printing) with 20 pages featuring archival photos, an essay by Halloween historian Stef Hutchinson and specially commissioned cover art by Jay Shaw, SRP is $34.99 and pre-book is August 28.

“Anchor Bay Entertainment has been home to Halloween for almost 20 years,” noted Malek Akkad, President of Trancas International Films and son of Moustapha Akkad. “I’m so happy that we’re partnering with them to present the definitive edition of what is widely acknowledged as one of the seminal horror films of the 20th century.”

Halloween stars Jamie Lee Curtis (A Fish Called Wanda, True Lies) in her debut role. Anyone who’s ever watched a horror film in the last 35 years knows the story of Michael Myers, who as a child, butchered his sister with a kitchen knife. Committed to a mental institution and watched over by Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance, Halloween II, IV & V, Fantastic Voyage), he engineers his escape 15 years later, returning to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween night to terrorize anyone who gets in his way, including babysitter Laurie Strode (Curtis).

Co-starring P.J. Soles (Carrie, Stripes, Rock ‘n Roll High School), Kyle Richards (The Watcher in the Woods, Eaten Alive), Nancy Loomis (Carpenter’s Assault On Precinct 13, The Fog), Charles Cyphers (Escape From New York, The Fog) and Brian Andrews (The Great Santini, Three O’Clock High), Halloween also cemented the careers of many behind the camera including Carpenter, Cundey, producer Debra Hill and film editor/production designer Tommy Lee Wallace (Halloween III: Season of the Witch, “It”).

Bonus features on Halloween 35th Anniversary Blu-ray™ include:

--All-new commentary track with writer/director John Carpenter and star Jamie Lee Curtis;
--“The Night She Came Home” new featurette with Jamie Lee Curtis (HD);
--On Location;
--Trailers;
--TV & Radio Spots;
--Additional Scenes from TV Version

About Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment is a leading home entertainment company. Anchor Bay acquires and distributes feature films, original television programming including STARZ Original series, children's entertainment, anime (Manga Entertainment), fitness (Anchor Bay Fitness), sports, and other filmed entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray™ formats. The company has long term distribution agreements in place for select programming with AMC Networks, RADiUS, and The Weinstein Company. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA, Anchor Bay Entertainment has offices in Troy, MI, as well as Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Anchor Bay Entertainment (www.anchorbayentertainment.com) is a Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) business, www.starz.com.

John Carpenter’s Halloween 35th Anniversary Blu-ray™
Genre: Horror
Rating: R
Languages: English
Format: Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 7.1; Original Mono
Year: 1978
SRP: $34.99
Street Date: September 24, 2013
Pre-Book: August 28, 2013
Length: 92 minutes
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
UPC: 0 1313 26063-3 0
Cat#: ZBD60633

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"HALLOWEEN 35th Anniversary Blu-Ray™" -- John Carpenter's Classic Arrives Sept.24th

ARTHUR C. CLARKE: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION -- DVD review by porfle

Ever wonder what kind of TV shows Agent Mulder might watch on his day off?  If he's by himself, he'll probably tune into the sensationalistic "In Search Of" with Leonard Nimoy.  But if his ever-dubious friend Agent Scully happens to be visiting,  it's more likely they'll be watching Arthur C. Clarke, whose forays into the unknown, while stoking our sense of wonder, remain firmly but unobtrusively on the skeptical side.

ARTHUR C. CLARKE: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION, an 8-disc DVD set from Visual Entertainment Incorporated, brings us all three of Clarke's thoughtful, carefully-produced TV series from the 80s and 90s--52 half-hour episodes in all--offering viewers interested in the unexplained approximately 22 hours worth of baffling and sometimes jaw-dropping mysteries from around the world and beyond. 

From his idyllic ocean-front retreat in Sri Lanka,  where the distinguished author of "2001: A Space Odyssey" and inventor of the communications satellite has succeeded in getting away from it all, the laidback Clarke introduces a different specimen of  unexplained phenomena to be examined in each episode.  These range from the earthly to the cosmic,  from the real-life to the paranormal,  and from historical puzzles to fantastic flights of fancy. 

Unlike "In Search Of",  however, which tended toward giving the most outlandish theories the benefit of the doubt, Clarke's style is to present both sides in a rational,  even-handed manner that allows us to make up our own minds,  and then present us with his own conclusions.  While these are usually tinged with skepticism, Clarke rarely allows himself to be overbearing or smug when dismissing something he believes is insufficiently supported by the evidence.  Thus, the viewer rarely feels manipulated to think one way or the other.  "I've always tried to steer a course between skepticism and credulity," Clarke tells us at one point.

The first 13-episode series, "Mysterious World" (1980),  is a compelling overview of the wonders that can be found all over our own home world.  On these two discs are riveting explorations of such mysteries as monsters of the deep, lake monsters, elusive apemen from the Yeti to Bigfoot, Easter Island's great stone heads, advanced technology in the ancient world,  baffling accounts of fish,  frogs, and other objects raining from the sky, and,  of course,  UFOs. 

Clarke presents a wealth of eyewitness accounts, historical records, drawings, photographs, and motion pictures either to support or discount according to his own rigorous scrutiny.  The famous Bigfoot footage is studied, as are numerous fascinating films purporting to show the Loch Ness Monster and other lake creatures.  My favorite is the UFO episode, which not only features the one and only Kenneth Arnold (whose eyewitness account in the late 40s kicked off the "flying saucer" craze) but carefully examines much evidence including startling films and photographs.

Discs three and four contain another 13-episode series, "World of Strange Powers" (1985), which focuses more upon the paranormal.  Clarke's skepticism comes to the fore here, but not so much as to spoil the fun for those of us who halfway believe in a lot of this stuff.  He does give such things as premonitions,  mental telepathy and other forms of ESP, stigmata, water divining, fire walking, and reincarnation serious consideration as is warranted by much of the evidence. 

Ghosts,  spirit photography, and other things that go bump in the night are taken with a grain of salt but presented without ridicule.  Even something as patently fake as those famous fairy photographs featuring sweet-faced little girls surrounded by dancing imps gives us an entertaining look into how the gullible can buy into the most outlandish of stories if there is photographic "proof."  Best of all, Uri Geller and his metal-bending nonsense is dismissed outright, as (in my opinion) it should be.

The final four discs comprise Clarke's 1994 series, "Mysterious Universe", whose 26 episodes do their best to cover everything left unexplored in previous shows while revisiting a subject or two.  Some of the subject matter almost approaches the lurid, as in "Zombies,  the Living Dead."  This one may give you a nightmare or two as it tells  of people who have been poisoned into a state of apparent death, buried, and then exhumed to be revived and enslaved as mind-addled zombies. 

Other subjects in this grab-bag of weird tales include "Snake Charmers, Wolf Children and Holy Men", more "Mysteries of the Sea", the Bermuda Triangle,  the fate of the dinosaurs, big cats loose in rural England, psychic detectives, spontaneous human combustion, crop circles, near-death experiences, phantom buildings, curses, alien abductions, ancient codes, runes, and riddles,  visions of the Virgin Mary, more spirits and spectres,  and much more. 

The only drawback to all of this interesting stuff is that,  at times, the show tends to get a little too non-sensationalistic, with some  episodes becoming downright dull as we watch scientists impassively studying specimens or droning on about things that are, despite their historical or scientific significance,  dry as dust from an entertainment standpoint.  Fortunately,  this doesn't occur too often.

The 8-disc DVD set from Visual Entertainment Incorporated is in 4:3 full screen with Dolby 2.0 sound.  English only.  No subtitles or extras.

With a knowing smile and a subtle sense of fun, the venerable Clarke leads us through the funhouse of mystery and magic that is our own weird world.  "I don't pretend to have all the answers," he tells us, "but the questions are certainly worth thinking about."  And with ARTHUR C. CLARKE: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION,  he does so in a way that should please both the Mulder and Scully in all of  us.

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ARTHUR C. CLARKE: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION -- DVD review by porfle

HONEST -- DVD review by porfle

Fans of Amanda Redman (D.S. Sandra Pullman of the delightfully quirky cop series "New Tricks") will probably derive a good bit of fun watching her wrestle the 2008 single-season British TV series HONEST (now a 2-disc DVD set from Acorn Media) into submission with her brassy, no-nonsense acting style.  Others, however, may have to slog their way through a distinctly unlikable episode or two before the show, and especially some of these characters, start to grow on them.

The marvelous Danny Webb, for example, plays crooked dad Mack Carter, who's perfectly happy to raise his kids to be scummy lowlifes like him.  At least until he ends up in prison--for several years this time instead of the usual short term--which means that his harried wife Lindsay (Redman) must now run the household and pay the bills while keeping all of the Carter family's budding young felons in line.  But what makes this really difficult is her decision to do all of this without resorting to crime.

How Lindsay and her criminal charges make the painful transition from larceny to honesty drives this raucous mix of comedy and drama with wildly varying results.  At first, characters such as teenaged dork Vic Carter (Matthew McNulty) and his butthead pal Reza (Amit Shah) provide little mirth as they engage in burglary and other crimes in bumbling fashion.  It isn't until they get caught redhanded by aging Triad boss Mr. Hong (venerable Burt Kwouk of the PINK PANTHER series), who forces Vic to atone by being his virtual slave, that we begin to warm up to Vic as he gradually gains a tentative sense of responsibility. 

The fact that Mr. Hong's granddaughter Vicky (Maye Choo) is a knockout who enjoying tormenting Vic during his labors by parading around in a bikini helps make the series more watchable at times.  And when she finally decides to "do the nasty" with Vic, it helps that she's actually doing it with Vic's twin brother Taylor (also McNulty), filling in for Vic in more ways than one.  Taylor, it turns out, is a lawyer and is thus the family's biggest success story,  although this hardly means he's above some occasional dishonesty himself. 

Kacie Carter (Laura Haddock), a dumb blonde obsessed with becoming a model, is a virtual clone of Kelly Bundy of "Married With Children."  Her character doesn't really become interesting until late in the season when she gets hooked  up with a lecherous TV personality and starts using him to get her face (and other body parts) splashed all over the tabloids.  Sister Lianna (Eleanor Wyld), one of the show's less annoying characters, is the smart one who has enough savvy to be a success in whatever she pursues but still finds herself doing a balancing act between right and wrong.  Michael Byrne (INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, BRAVEHEART) plays Grandpa Carter,  a crusty old reprobate who isn't as senile as he lets on.

Amanda Redman, of course, easily dominates the proceedings by virtue of her sheer presence and robust acting talents, and HONEST is pretty much first-rate whenever she's on the screen.  Besides the aforementioned Danny Webb (a favorite of mine since ALIEN 3), another oasis of "good" is the always fine Sean Pertwee (SOLDIER, THE MUTANT CHRONICLES) as D.S. Ed Bain, a world-weary cop who likes Lindsay even though he's forced to spend most of his time arresting members of her family.  Their tentative relationship will provide some nice moments throughout the show's six episodes.

The series gets off to a shaky start as the first episode or two are a cacophony of  empty freneticism and bad one-liners, rushing from one gag situation to the next before we can reflect on how unfunny it all is.  Again, the Carters and their fellow felons initially come off not as charming rogues or scoundrels, but simply low-lifes whom I found wholly unlikable.  It doesn't help that the incessantly cutesy musical score prods us to find it all amusing.

Gradually, though, I began to build up a tolerance and finally a measure of affection for the Carters and their silly antics, along with occasional moments of actual funniness as when Lindsay and D.S. Bain catch Constable Harrison ( Thomas Nelstrop) gratifying himself in his car to a picture of aspiring model Kacie, whom he happens to be stalking.  Outstanding dramatic moments include an attempt on Lindsay's life after she's accused of being a "grass" (snitch) and her continuing struggle to keep her marriage to Mack from falling apart as her feelings for D.S. Bain grow harder to deny.  Lindsay's misadventures in the work force, including clashes with some  of her supposedly "honest" employers, also provide some of the show's most riveting situations.

The 2-disc DVD set from Acorn Media is in 16:9 widescreen with Dolby Digital sound and English subtitles.  Extras consist of a photo gallery, text interviews with some of the lead actors, and production notes.

If you find yourself watching HONEST and not liking what you see at first,  you might want to hang in there and give it a chance.  By the third episode or so, I found myself actually getting into it and, dare I say, caring about these characters and their foolish yet earnest attempts to go straight.  Even the unfunny parts began to seem kind of funny, which is a sure sign that a TV series has managed to tweak my "likability" nerve. 

Buy it at Amazon.com

HONEST -- DVD review by porfle

THE KILLER SHREWS -- movie review by porfle

(NOTE: This review was originally posted several years ago at Bumscorner.com. CONTAINS SPOILERS!)

A shrew is a tiny, rat-like animal that smells sort of like a skunk. A killer shrew, on the other hand, is a large dog with fake hair and fangs stuck on it. At times, it's also a hand-puppet that someone shoves at your face while making a "skick-ick-ick-ick!!!" sound.

But before we are introduced to these exciting creatures in the low-budget horror film THE KILLER SHREWS (1959), we meet Thorne Sherman, the captain of a small cargo boat, and his first mate, "Rook" Griswold, who are currently delivering supplies to an island where a group of scientists work in seclusion on some mysterious research project which concerns overpopulation and which, yes, turns out to have something to do with killer shrews.

Thorne is played by James Best, whom you may know better as Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrain on "The Dukes Of Hazzard." Here, he's younger, slimmer, and slightly less goofy -- more of a poor man's macho adventure hero -- although he still has sort of a prissy way of pursing his lips when he's vexed. "Rook" is portrayed by an actor named Judge Henry Dupree. I don't know if the guy was really a judge in real life or if his parents just decided that "Judge" would be a cool name for a baby. Maybe their other children were named "Bailiff", "Stenographer", and "Defendant."

Anyway, when they get to the island they're greeted on the dock by the leader of the scientists, Dr. Marlowe Craigis from Sweden, who is played by Baruch Lumet, the father of well-known film director Sidney ("Network", "Dog Day Afternoon") Lumet, who probably never went around saying "Guess what? My dad was in 'The Killer Shrews'!" very much. Dr. Craigis is accompanied by his daughter Ann (1957 Miss Universe winner Ingrid Goude, whose talent in the competition probably wasn't "acting"), and his really creepy and weaselly assistant Jerry (Ken Curtis, who produced THE KILLER SHREWS and went on to portray Marshall Dillon's deputy Festus Haggen in "Gunsmoke"). Until recently, Ann was engaged to Jerry, which makes one wonder how desperate she is for a man. There must be something really wrong with her -- I'm guessing it's her breath.

Dr. Craigis is eager for Ann to leave the island with Thorne for some reason, and Jerry is carrying a shotgun and peering around nervously. Hmm...could something be amiss? Something that might have to do with...killer shrews? Well, too bad because there's a hurricane coming and Thorne isn't going anywhere until it blows over. Grudgingly, the three researchers return to their remote island hideaway with the captain in tow. "Rook" stays behind to watch the boat and to be the first character eaten by the -- oops, getting ahead of myself.

Soon they arrive at the secluded house, which is surrounded by a thick wooden fence. Here's where THE KILLER SHREWS becomes one of the best drinking games ever. From this point in the story onward, throw back a shot whenever someone in the movie takes a drink or mentions drinking. You'll get sloshed in no time, because this is the most booze-happy bunch of research scientists in cinema history. When their servant-slash-handyman Mario appears to let them in, Ann begins the festivities by saying, "Fodder, perheps de captain vould enjoy a drink." Dr. Craigis responds, "Of course. Vill you join us in a cocktail?" and Thorne, naturally, is delighted. "Well, I've never been known to turn down a drink yet," he candidly admits. "Fine," says the doctor, "in dat case we'll heff martinis. Mario?" "Si, senor?" "Mix dem, please."

When they enter the house, everyone gathers around the fully-stocked portable bar that will become the most frequently-used prop in the entire movie. Here, Thorne is introduced to Dr. Radford Baines, an absent-minded nerd who thinks shrew research as a means of combatting overpopulaton is so utterly wonderful that when he isn't in the lab researching shrews, he wanders around the house thinking about it until someone stops him. He's so dedicated, in fact, that if, say, a killer shrew bit him in the leg, thus giving him a lethal dose of its deadly venom, he would hustle to the nearest typewriter and catalogue the various symptoms he began to experience for as long as he could before he keeled over dead. I'm not saying this actually happens, of course. But in this movie, it certainly could happen.

Meanwhile, the hurricane is getting closer, and Thorne advises Dr. Craigis to get some doors and windows open. "Dere are ventilators on de roof," he assures him. "And if you'll freshen Ann's drink, I'll go and check dem." Now that's an attentive dad! "Got dem opened, all right," he announces upon his return. "Vell, Captain...let me freshen your drink. One for de road." But Thorne has decided not to return to his boat just yet, because -- in a scene in which Ann and Thorne light up a couple of cigarettes on the couch, and Jerry eavesdrops suspiciously on their conversation as he smokes his own cigarette, and the three of them puff away like there's no tomorrow -- Ann has let it slip that the house is surrounded by killer shrews that will eat him if he goes outside. Apparently, their research has gone a bit awry. Later, Dr. Craigis graphically describes how a victim of the shrews would be stripped to the bone, and Ann, upset by this, springs to her feet and shouts "I could use another martini!" "Of course, my dear," responds her father. "I'll get you one." At this rate, somebody's going to have to get her a new liver, too.

Meanwhile, the killer shrews are chewing their way through the walls, trying to get at the only food source left on the island -- the people. While discussing their next move, Thorne grabs the drink that Jerry has just poured for himself. Jerry pours himself another one, and they both toss their drinks back at precisely the same time. (MST3K referred to this dazzling dual display of dexterity as "synchonized drinking.") As the perilous night wears on, two members of the household are killed by invading shrews. I won't tell you who they are, but since I'm going to stop talking about them from now on, you can probably figure it out.

When daylight returns at last, Thorne and Jerry venture through the forest toward the dock to check on "Rook", who may or may not have been eaten by killer shrews the night before. Jerry deems this the perfect opportunity to point his shotgun at Thorne and warn him to stay away from Ann. But Thorne has about as much intention of doing this as he does of turning down one of Mario's martinis, and a fight ensues. Suddenly, the killer shrews attack! The two men hightail it back to the house, but Jerry reaches the gate first and locks Thorne out. Thorne climbs over the wall and proceeds to beat Jerry brutally. He then hoists him over his head, climbs up on a box, and threatens to throw him over the fence and feed him to the creatures. If this sounds familiar, it's because George Romero later wrote an almost identical scene in the script for NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, in which Ben is locked out of the house by Harry Cooper. Even the library-derived music is the same.

Finally, the shrews begin to turn the walls into swiss cheese and everyone is forced out of the house and into the compound. In spite of his alcohol-soaked brain, or perhaps because of it, Thorne hits upon the bright idea of lashing a bunch of inverted metal drums together, cutting eyeholes in them, and then having everyone climb in and duckwalk to the beach. That's right -- duckwalk. I don't know about you, but I don't recall very many action/horror films in which the thrilling climactic escape from the terrifying creatures had a whole heck of a lot to do with duckwalking, but here it is.

Of course, it's all shown in close-up, so you don't actually see their knees pumping against their chins or their feet waddling up and down, which is a shame because I would like to have seen that. But it's enough just to know that they really are duckwalking all the way to the beach in their makeshift tank as a horde of ravenous killer shrews, portrayed by dogs with fake hair and fangs stuck on them, struggle to eat them.

I'm not going to tell you whether they make it or not -- you'll just have to see for yourself when you watch THE KILLER SHREWS, which of course you're going to want to do immediately after reading this. But I will say that if they did make it back to the beach and swim out to the boat and head safely back to the mainland, then Thorne Sherman might possibly slide his arms around Ann and come up with one of the best closing lines in bad cinema history, and it would probably have something to do with the fact that he's not quite ready to start worrying about overpopulation just yet.

Buy it at Amazon.com

Read our updated review of the Film Chest DVD here

THE KILLER SHREWS -- movie review by porfle

NORTH AND SOUTH -- DVD review by porfle

Looking back now on the premiere of "Star Trek: The Next Generation", it's funny now how little some of us realized what a coup Gene Roddenberry had scored in getting British thespian Patrick Stewart to star as Captain Jean Luc Picard. Back then, I thought this short, bald guy whom I didn't recall ever seeing before was about as much captain material as my Aunt Fanny, but time certainly proved me wrong about that.

Interesting, then, to rediscover Patrick Stewart's earlier TV and film accomplishments back when he was a sturdy young up-and-coming actor with a full head of (fake) hair. The four-part "BBC2 Serial" presentation NORTH AND SOUTH (1975), now available in a 2-disc DVD set from Acorn Media, catches him with his robust theatricality in full bloom in a part he can really sink his incisors into.

The actual star of this adaptation of the Elizabeth Gaskel novel is Rosalie Shanks (Aunt Mimi of "John Lennon: A Journey in the Life") as Margaret Hale, a young Victorian-era woman who has been living the high society life in London with her aunt and cousins for ten years but now yearns to return to her pastoral home in Southern England. As fate would have it, though, her clergyman father (Robin Bailey) has just broken ties with the church and is moving the family to a Northern factory town filled with noise and soot, which horrifies not only Margaret but her reserved, delicate mother ( Kathleen Byron).

Mr. Hale begins to earn extra money as a tutor, and one of his students is a young cotton mill owner named John Thornton (Stewart). When labor vs. management issues begin to heat up and a strike looms, bleeding heart Margaret sides with the poor workers while Thornton brings in Irish laborers, which leads to a confrontation in which Margaret is injured while shielding Thornton from harm.

Her impulsive act is seen as a brazen display of public affection that will lead to her shame unless she marries Thornton. The idea appeals to him since he happens to be in love with her, but she can't stand him--at least, she claims she can't (although we know better, now don't we?)

What promises to be a complex story actually turns out to be quite simple and, while engrossing enough, seems a bit padded over four 50-minute episodes. The deliberate and non-sensationalistic storytelling style is at its most intriguing when dealing with Thornton's labor problems and the tribulations of some of his downtrodden workers, such as the unfortunate Higgins (Norman Jones) whose daughter Bessy is dying from breathing in cotton fibers in what is known as the factory's dreaded "carding room." Rosalie Crutchley is a strong presence as Thornton's iron-willed mother, who considers her son too good for Margaret, and their scenes together are interesting.

The romantic stuff, however, wears thin after awhile and is resolved in a seemingly cursory manner as the story itself offers few surprises--even the fact that several key characters die off one by one eventually loses its shock value. After awhile it even begins to seem as though new players are being introduced simply to give the story someone else to knock off so that poor put-upon Margaret can be sad again.

As Margaret, Rosalie Shanks is theatrical and affected, but earnest, and somewhat reminiscent of a young Julie Andrews although at times her oddly over-expressive face makes her resemble a Nick Park character. Margaret gains some depth as the determinedly charitable young woman takes on an increased empathy for those beneath her station, yet we never really care all that much about her. Stewart, on the other hand, brings such a restrained vigor to his role that the film lights up when he's on the screen. In relation to his dreary surroundings and the dour people he must constantly deal with, his character is likable and appealing.

The 2-disc DVD from Acorn Media is in full screen with Dolby Digital sound and English subtitles. No extras. Image quality is good despite the age of the production.

Veering at times toward sheer melodrama, there's a theatricality to NORTH AND SOUTH that sometimes makes it seem as though it's being recited rather than acted. On the whole, however, it's a pleasant enough viewing experience that fans of old-style BBC Victorian drama will want to make it a point to see. And Patrick Stewart with hair--whether it's actually his or not--is always a novelty.

Buy it at Amazon.com

NORTH AND SOUTH -- DVD review by porfle

Prime Suspect, Smiley’s People Debut on Blu-ray, Tales of the City: 20th Anniv. DVD – Acorn Release Calendar

"Acorn Media, chief curators of the best Brit TV" --TIME Magazine

Acorn (British TV) and Athena (Documentaries) DVD Release Calendar


The upcoming July and August releases from British TV specialist Acorn, an RLJ Entertainment brand, feature the Blu-ray debuts of two iconic series - Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect: The Complete Collection and Alex Guinness in Smiley’s People (w/deleted scenes) as well as the star-studded Tales of the City: 20th Anniversary Edition on DVD.



Additionally, Acorn has the U.S. debuts of several highly anticipated series that offer a perfect alternative to summer reruns. U.S. debuts include: Midsomer Murders Set 22, featuring the newest episodes of our top-selling series; Falcón starring Marton Csokas (The Lord of the Rings) in new cinematic detective thriller set in Spain; the long-overdue U.S. and home video debut of North & South, starring Patrick Stewart (X-Men, I, Claudius) in a classic BBC period drama; Jack Taylor starring Iain Glen (Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey) in an Irish detective drama; and Honest, a British dramedy.



Acorn also has another season of Britain’s highest-rated TV drama with New Tricks, Season 9; a value-priced complete collection of Lynda La Plante’s Trial & Retribution courtroom drama series, and individual season sets of its top-selling series, Midsomer Murders with Series 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.



Documentary specialist Athena has several fascinating releases, including Time Team: The Team’s Favorite Digs, Missions That Changes the War: Germany’s Last Ace, Bill Moyers: On the Hudson, Bill Moyers: Faith & Reason Collection, and Joanna Lumley’s Nile.



Acorn (British TV) and Athena (Documentaries) DVD Release Calendar:



June 25:



Jack Taylor Set 1 (U.S. Debut) – Iain Glen (Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey) stars in the gritty Irish detective drama based on the bestselling crime fiction by Ken Bruen. A noir thriller in the vein of Case Histories and Single-Handed and filmed on location against the rugged backdrop of western Ireland, the program follows a forty-something ex-cop trying to earn a living as a private detective in his native Galway. Self-destructive, pig-headed, and overly fond of the bottle, Taylor has burned a lot of bridges, but he still has a knack for uncovering ugly truths. Broadcast on in the U.K. in 2013 with new episodes in production (DVD 3-Disc Set, 3 mysteries).



New Tricks Season 9 (DVD Debut) – Retired cops solve cold cases in Britain’s highest-rated TV drama. The series has enjoyed ongoing broadcast exposure in North America on PBS; however the DVD set features the unedited UK edition. For eight years, the old dogs of the Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad—veteran detectives Jack Halford (James Bolam), Brian Lane (Alun Armstrong, Garrow’s Law), and Gerry Standing (Dennis Waterman, The Sweeney)—have been a close-knit team led by Amanda Redman. Then Jack drops a bombshell: he’s retiring. Before long, they find a replacement in retired detective Steve McAndrew (Emmy® nominee Denis Lawson, Bleak House, Star Wars). (DVD 3-Disc Set)



Honest (U.S. Debut) – Featuring sharp scripts, an outstanding cast, and a deft mix of comedy and drama, this critically acclaimed British dramedy follows the fortunes of the criminally minded Carter family after their patriarch is sentenced to four years in jail for robbery. Amanda Redman (New Tricks) stars as the beleaguered mother determined to keep her family out of trouble. The compelling cast also includes Danny Webb (The Bill), Sean Pertwee (Cold Feet), Matthew McNulty (The Syndicate), and Laura Haddock (Upstairs Downstairs). Honest aired in the U.K. on ITV in 2008, but never aired in the U.S (DVD 2-Disc Set, 6 episodes).







July 2:



Falcón (U.S. Debut) – Marton Csokas (The Lord of the Rings) and Hayley Atwell (Captain America) star in new cinematic crime thriller making its U.S. debut. Featuring compelling characters, an outstanding ensemble cast, and complex, haunting mysteries, the critically acclaimed new crime series is based on the bestselling novels by Robert Wilson. Set in the magnificent Spanish city of Seville, Falcón follows a smart, intuitive detective bent on exposing hard truths and corruption. The British production features a seductive beauty and sinister undercurrent all to its own, along with stunning cinematography and stylish direction. The series co-stars Emilia Fox, Santiago Cabrera, Charlie Creed-Miles, and Kerry Fox with guest stars Bernard Hill, Robert Lindsay, Bill Paterson, and Rosie Perez. The two feature-length mysteries premiered in the UK in Nov. 2012 but have not aired in the U.S. (DVD 2-Disc).



Patrick Stewart in North & South (U.S. and Home Video Debut) – The classic BBC miniseries makes its long-awaited home video and U.S. debut. The outstanding BBC period drama stars Patrick Stewart (X-Men, Star Trek, I, Claudius) in a classic British romance in the vein of Pride and Prejudice and Middlemarch. This popular program is based on the celebrated novel by Elizabeth Gaskell (Cranford, Wives and Daughters) and depicts the tensions of the Victorian era, as traditional society clashed with the coming of the modern world. Both a slow-burn romance and a clear-eyed view of the Industrial Revolution, North & South captivates with a magnetic performance from future star Patrick Stewart. Though broadcast on the BBC in 1975, the series likely never aired in the U.S., so this release is the first opportunity for U.S. audiences to see the miniseries (DVD 2-Disc, 4 episodes).







July 16:



Joanna Lumley’s Nile (DVD Debut) – A fascinating four-part documentary hosted by the witty and enthusiastic Joanna Lumley, half of the iconic duo from Absolutely Fabulous. Traveling by fishing boat, ferry, cruise ship, plane, train, car, and Zapcat, Joanna follows the world’s longest river from mouth of the river in the Mediterranean Sea to its source in Sudan. Along the way, Joanna visits five African nations and some of the most inhospitable landscapes on Earth. The ideal travel companion, she’s game for almost anything—from sleeping on a crowded deck to slogging through mud and judging an “Ancient Egypt Night” contest. Featuring a deft mix of education and entertainment, the program premiered in 2010 on ITV and has since aired on public television in the U.S. (DVD 2-Disc Set, 4 episodes).



Bill Moyers: On the Hudson – America’s First River (DVD Debut) – Called “Surprising and delightful” (The New York Times), this fascinating PBS documentary explores the history of the mighty Hudson River. Legendary journalist Bill Moyers discusses the river’s 315-mile course from its source in the Adirondack Mountains to its outlet at New York harbor—and its impact on much of the nation’s history, literature, and art. On the Hudson debuted on PBS in 2002 and is Athena’s sixteenth release from Moyers’ acclaimed library of programs (DVD 2-Disc Set).







July 30:



Midsomer Murders Series 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 in individual season sets – Now in original U.K. broadcast order, the first five series of the beloved, star-studded mystery series are available in collectible, repackaged individual series sets with SDH subtitles ($59.99 each set). The English village mystery gets a contemporary spin in this hit British television series that has earned a worldwide following. Bucolic settings harbor macabre crimes and eccentric characters that are no match for nice-guy detective Tom Barnaby (John Nettles, Bergerac) and his eager assistant, Sergeant Troy (Daniel Casey). Continually among Acorn’s best-selling series, Midsomer Murders premiered in the U.K. in 1997 and more than ninety feature-length episodes have aired with new episodes still in production. The first five series have featured a wide array of famous faces, including Orlando Bloom, Emily Mortimer, Honeysuckle Weeks, Toby Jones, Imelda Staunton, Trudie Styler, James Bolam, Samantha Bond, Anthony Bate, Kenneth Colley, Celia Imrie, and Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey). (DVD 2 or 3-Disc Sets)



August 6:



Smiley’s People (Blu-ray Debut) – The “marvelously riveting” (The New York Times) sequel to Tinker Tailor Solider Spy - John le Carré’s classic Cold War spy drama now with more than an hour of new bonus features. Oscar® winner Alec Guinness (Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars, Lawrence of Arabia) reprises his BAFTA-winning role that the San Francisco Chronicle called “the crowning role of the great actor’s long career” as retired spymaster George Smiley for the 1982 sequel. Filmed on location in London, Paris, Hamburg, and Berne, Smiley’s People co-stars Patrick Stewart, Siân Phillips (Dune), Eileen Atkins (Upstairs, Downstairs), and Bill Paterson (Traffik). The Blu-ray 2-disc set includes six episodes, along with the new addition of 62 min. of deleted/extended scenes as well as a 20-min. interview with John le Carré, production notes, book list, and more. Celebrated for its literate scripts and intricate plotting, the series was nominated for three Emmys® in 1983--including director, actor, and miniseries—and won four BAFTAs in 1982.



Midsomer Murders Set 22 (U.S. Debut, Blu-ray and DVD) – Acorn’s top-selling, smash-hit series returns with four new stand-alone mysteries, plus bonus 34-min. Midsomer Murders in Conversation segment. Set in England’s picture-perfect but perilous Midsomer County, Set 22’s episodes have not aired on U.S. television. Inspired by the novels of Caroline Graham, modern master of the English village mystery, the series stars Neil Dudgeon as the capable Detective Chief Inspector John Barnaby, with Jason Hughes as his earnest, efficient partner, Detective Sergeant Ben Jones. The Mysteries: The Sleeper under the Hill, The Night of the Stag, A Sacred Trust, and A Rare Bird. (Blu-ray 2-Disc Set, DVD 4-Vol. Boxed Set)





August 13:



Time Team: The Team’s Favorite Digs (U.S. Debut) – More digs from the hit British science-reality series. Go along for a fun, fast-paced ride as archeologists dig up the past. Tony Robinson (Blackadder) is back as the leader of Time Team, a band of archaeologists, historians, surveyors, geophysicists, and other assorted experts determined to unearth mysteries concealed by topsoil and time. For these eight episodes, the team members have selected their favorite digs, ranging from Iron Age, Roman, and Saxon Britain to a World War II crash site in France and a sugar plantation in the Caribbean. (DVD 3-Disc set)



Bill Moyers: Faith & Reason Collection – Three PBS programs explore religion, the search for truth, and a beloved hymn in a value-priced collection hosted by legendary journalist Bill Moyers. Shows feature Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Huston Smith, Pete Seeger, Johnny Cash, among many others. The DVD 6-Disc boxed set includes the previously released full-length programs, On Faith & Reason, The Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith, and Amazing Grace, along with bonus program Pure Pete Seeger (54 min.)



Trial & Retribution: Complete Collection – “So damn addictive” (Film.com) and “Great crime series” (NPR) – All 22 feature-length mysteries of the gritty British drama in a value-priced collection from the creator of Prime Suspect, Lynda La Plante. Teeming with the same hard-bitten sensibility and emotional resonance that made Prime Suspect a television landmark, Trial & Retribution takes viewers from the crime scene to the forensics laboratory and from police headquarters to the courtroom. David Hayman (Sid and Nancy) stars as DCS Mike Walker, with Kate Buffery (Wish Me Luck) and Victoria Smurfit (About a Boy) as his partners. Guest stars include Hugh Dancy (Black Hawk Down), Iain Glen (Downton Abbey), and Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Basterds, X-Men). (DVD 18-disc set)







August 27:



Tales of the City: 20th Anniversary Collection – “One of the 10 best miniseries” (Entertainment Weekly) and “Uncommonly fine television” (The New York Times) – The influential PBS miniseries returns with SDH subtitles, exclusive footage, and more. Deftly chronicling the quest for love and connection across a spectrum of sexual experiences, the Peabody Award-winning miniseries features a star-studded cast including Oscar® winner Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck), Oscar® nominee Laura Linney (The Big C, John Adams, The Savages), Gemini winner Paul Gross (Slings & Arrows), Billy Campbell (Once and Again), and Thomas Gibson (Dharma & Greg). Based on the groundbreaking novel by Armistead Maupin, Tales of the City follows a colorful cast of characters living at 28 Barbary Lane in anything-goes 1970s San Francisco. The series received universal acclaim when it debuted in 1994, hailed as “a brilliant evocation of a time and place” (Los Angeles Times), and remains a television landmark. (DVD 2-disc set)



Prime Suspect: The Complete Collection (Blu-ray Debut) – “A perfect marriage of astoundingly talented actress and brilliantly conceived character” (USA Today) – Blu-ray debut of the iconic, universally acclaimed police drama starring Oscar® winner Helen Mirren in her iconic, Emmy®-winning role. Mirren stars as Detective Jane Tennison, “one of the great character creations of our time” (The Washington Post), in this revolutionary police drama broadcast on PBS to universal acclaim and more than 20 major international awards, including seven Emmys® (three-time winner of "Outstanding Miniseries"), eight BAFTAs, and a Peabody. Guest stars include: Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient), Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton), and Jonny Lee Miller (Elementary). The Blu-ray 7-Disc set includes nine feature-length mysteries in high-definition as well as a 50-minute behind-the-scenes special, featurette, and more.



Missions that Changed the War: German’s Last Ace (Athena, DVD Debut) – Narrated by Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, CSI: NY), the compelling documentary explores the downfall of Nazi Germany. Seen on the Military Channel, the riveting documentary series tells the story of three fighter pilots who played decisive roles in the aerial battles over Germany. Through original footage, expert military analyses, and never-before-seen interviews with the participants, Germany’s Last Ace revisits the events of May 12, 1944, which Nazi armaments minister Albert Speer considered the day that Germany lost the war. (DVD 2-disc set)



Coming in September:



Foyle’s War, Set 7 (DVD and Blu-ray debut of three new episodes airing on PBS beginning 9/15), P.G. Wodehouse’s Blandings, Series 1 (U.S. debut), Brainwave (Athena), Agatha Christie’s Poirot Series 7 & 8 (DVD/Blu-ray), War and Peace, and New Tricks Collection: Seasons 1-5



--------------------------------------------------------------------------



Earlier 2013 Releases Still Available



From Acorn: The Syndicate Series 1 (U.S. Debut, adapted as Lucky 7 by ABC), George Gently, Series 5 (U.S. Debut), George Gently Collection: Series 1-4, Vexed Series 2 (U.S. Debut), The First Churchills, The Politician’s Wife, Springhill Series 1 (U.S. Debut), The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries: Complete Collection, Doc Martin Special Collection: Series 1-5 + The Movies, A Fine Romance: Complete Collection, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries Series 1 (U.S. Debut, DVD/Blu-ray), new, glamorous “lady detective” series; Midsomer Murders: Tom Barnaby’s Last Cases; Dirk Gently (U.S. Debut), based on the novels by beloved author Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy); Sugartown (U.S. Debut), charming BBC comedy; Foyle’s War: The Home Front Files, Sets 1-6, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Long-awaited DVD Debut) starring Geraldine McEwan (Agatha Christie’s Marple), Garrow’s Law: The Complete Collection, Maigret Complete Collection starring Michael Gambon, Murdoch Mysteries Collection: Seasons 1-4 (Blu-ray and DVD), Murdoch Mysteries, Season 5 (U.S. Debut, Blu-ray, DVD), Murdoch Mysteries, Season 2 (Blu-ray debut), No Job for a Lady: The Complete Collection (DVD Debut), Chance in a Million Complete Collection, A Mind to Kill Complete Collection, Agatha Christie’s Partners in Crime: The Tommy & Tuppence Mysteries, Agatha Christie’s Poirot & Marple Fan Favorites Collection, Wodehouse Playhouse Complete, Above Suspicion Set 2 (U.S. debut) starring Kelly Reilly and Ciaran Hinds, Testimony of Two Men (DVD Debut), Doctor Zhivago starring Keira Knightley, Trial & Retribution, Set 6 (U.S. Debut), Lillie starring Francesca Annis, and Midsomer Murders Set 21 (U.S. Debut, Blu-ray and DVD).



From Athena Documentaries:

Understanding Art: Hidden Lives of Masterpieces (U.S. Debut), Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy (DVD Debut), Bill Moyers: Beyond Hate, Shakespeare: The King's Man (U.S. Debut, Athena), a captivating 2012 BBC documentary exploring Shakespeare’s later plays; Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth with Bill Moyers – 25th Anniversary Edition, Missions That Changed the War: The Doolittle Raid (DVD Debut) narrated by Gary Sinise, She-Wolves: England’s Early Queens (DVD debut), The Story of Math Collection, and Bill Moyers: Becoming American.



Best British TV streaming service Acorn TV is featuring a free 30-day trial for complete access to the 18 different series plus marathons. Thereafter, a subscription is just $2.99/mth or $29.99/yr. Each week three new seasons are added and three are removed. The press login/password for complete access is readily available upon request. Acorn TV adds the U.S. Premieres of four more feature-length mysteries from its top selling series with MIDSOMER MURDERS, SET 22 and favorite episodes of the hit UK reality series TIME TEAM; the universally acclaimed miniseries TALES OF THE CITY: 20th Anniversary, starring Laura Linney, Olympia Dukakis, Billy Campbell, Paul Gross, and Thomas Gibson; the complete FORSYTE SAGA starring Emmy-winner® Damian Lewis (Homeland), as well as marathons of 2012 public TV sensation DOC MARTIN (38 episodes plus two movies) starring Martin Clunes, and anthology mystery series THE RUTH RENDELL MYSTERIES (17 feature-length mysteries) featuring stars Colin Firth, Honeysuckle Weeks and Amanda Redman; and international kidnapping thriller KIDNAP & RANSOM; among many others. Press access readily available upon request. acornonline.com/TV



An RLJ Entertainment, Inc. brand (NASDAQ: RLJE), Athena releases provide an authoritative and entertaining learning experience through high quality, informative, non-fiction programming. Athena’s 2013 releases include: Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth: 25th Anniversary Edition, She-Wolves: England’s Early Queens, Missions That Changed the War: The Doolittle Raid, Shakespeare: The King’s Man, The Story of Math Collection, and Broadway Musicals: A Jewish Legacy.



An RLJ Entertainment, Inc. brand (NASDAQ: RLJE), Acorn specializes in the best of British television on DVD/Blu-ray. 2013 releases include: Jack Irish starring Guy Pearce, BBC’s The Syndicate, The Fall starring Gillian Anderson, North & South starring Patrick Stewart, Falcón starring Marton Csokas, Jack Taylor starring Iain Glen, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Doc Martin Special Collection, Helen Mirren’s Prime Suspect and Smiley’s People on Blu-ray, Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently, star-studded Tales of the City: 20th Anniversary Edition, and more episodes from Foyle’s War, George Gently, New Tricks, Murdoch Mysteries, Midsomer Murders and Vera.



Acorn’s and Athena’s DVD sets are available from select retailers, catalog companies, and direct from Acorn Media at (888) 870-8047 or www.acornonline.com and www.athenalearning.com. Select series are streaming at Acorn TV, the first British TV-focused streaming service, at AcornOnline.com/TV.

Prime Suspect, Smiley’s People Debut on Blu-ray, Tales of the City: 20th Anniv. DVD – Acorn Release Calendar

Henry "Man of Steel" Cavill's Saucy Early Role in Midsomer Murders -- Watch Clips Here!

Acorn Media, “curators of the best Brit TV” (TIME), has just reminded us of "Man of Steel" Henry Cavill's early role on "Midsomer Murders" as the cheeky Simon Mayfield.


Unlike in his Superman role, the clips find Cavill in a devilish display of behaviors expected of any youth-cut-loose. Photos and clips are linked below of the saucy star in The Green Man (Season 7, Episode 1, Nov. 2003) as he gets attacked by a wild animal and is an animal himself in other ways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v-FfOAy9zY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvQo4hXranw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92S0NwtpOvI

Here are some of our past reviews of "Midsomer Murders":

Midsomer Murders: Set 17
Midsomer Murders: Set 18
Midsomer Murders: Set 19
Midsomer Murders: Set 20
Midsomer Murders: Set 21
Midsomer Murders: Barnaby's Top 10

Henry "Man of Steel" Cavill's Saucy Early Role in Midsomer Murders -- Watch Clips Here!

NEW TRICKS: SEASON NINE -- DVD review by porfle

After eight seasons of just getting better and better, Acorn Media's 3-disc DVD set NEW TRICKS: SEASON NINE gives us a look at a great TV series undergoing a nerve-rattling shakeup but still managing to maintain its composure.

The gang at UCOS (Unsolved Crimes and Open Case Squad)--three retired, geriatric cops and their plucky female boss and full-time den mother Det. Supt. Sandra Pullman (Amanda Redman)--are still tucked away in a secluded basement office and not given the credit they've earned during years of brilliant detective work. But word's finally getting around about these guys, with Pullman no longer regarding it as a dead-end job and even their formerly dismissive supervisor D.A.C. Strickland (Anthony Calf) beginning to recognize what an asset they are.

Alun Armstrong and Dennis Waterman continue to shine as, respectively, emotionally-unstable OCD casualty Brian Lane and thrice-divorced curmudgeon Gerry Standing (Waterman also sings the show's theme song, "It's Alright"). Part of that shakeup I referred to earlier occurs in the season opener, "A Death in the Family", when the team's oldest and wisest member, Jack Halford (James Bolam), who has been Sandra's mentor for many years, announces his this-time-for-real retirement.

The case at hand--a "Jack the Ripper" style murder that took place over a hundred years earlier--is soon pushed aside in our minds as we wonder what the real reason is behind Jack's leaving. Ultimately, what will be Bolam's final episode is resolved in a quick and relatively unsentimental way, so the show gets credit for not going the maudlin route here. (Tim McInnerny's guest turn as shady government operative Stephen Fisher, who forces the team to work on the case without telling them why, is a highlight.)

This, of course, leaves us fans wondering what's to become of the team and the show. UCOS gets by for a couple more episodes ("Old School Ties", about the unsolved murder of a teacher in an uppercrust girls' school, and the consistently interesting and twisty "Queen and Country") with just Sandra, Gerry, and Brian bearing the caseload. While the truncated team is surprisingly effective, there's still something missing without a third retiree to round things out.

Then, with "The Girl Who Lived", a fascinating story of a girl who is missing and presumed dead for years until her DNA is found at the scene of a convenience store holdup, comes retired Scottish cop Steve McAndrew, who aids the team due to his personal involvement in the original case years before and ends up becoming a permanent replacement for Jack. Steve's character strongly asserts his own unique personality traits early on--he's cocky, brash, and tough, he's a rule-bender, and he enjoys a drink or two (making him a good playmate for Gerry but not recovering alcoholic Brian, who starts to feel left out).

McAndrew is played by Denis Lawson, a name I didn't recognize at first although the face seemed vaguely familiar (it might've helped if I'd pictured him with dark hair instead of the current white). Checking his page on IMDb I found that he'd been in all three films of the original "Star Wars" trilogy. Character name? Wedge. He was WEDGE, for Pete's sake! You could've knocked me over with an Ewok! Needless to say, I looked at him in a different light from then on.

As a replacement for James Bolam, Lawson is still proving himself. Still, he's a fun addition to the team and, since he's the new guy and tends to behave impulsively, he keeps things unpredictable. Another element of freshness to this season's stories is the increased involvement of D.A.C. Strickland, whose attitude toward UCOS has evolved from adversarial to almost paternal.

"Body of Evidence" involves a missing corpse that turns up in a hospital morgue after lying there under the wrong name for a year. "Love Means Nothing in Tennis" is the story of an up-and-coming young tennis star who falls over the balcony of her penthouse apartment after losing a crucial match. Suicide or murder? Her tennis rivals and their flaky mothers are all caught up in the web of suspicion. Alexei Sayle guest stars.

Brian is enchanted by the world of poetry in "Dead Poets", while a more cynical Gerry just wants to find out who murdered a young poet and incinerated him in the scrapyard of a local drug dealer. "Blue Flower" is the compelling tale an East Berlin couple who, before the fall of the Berlin wall, helped their baby escape while staying behind themselves. Years later, the father searches for his now-grown daughter in England but is murdered on the street by an unknown assailant, which is only the beginning of a complicated web of betrayal and deceit.

"Glasgow UCOS" plays almost like the pilot for a proposed spinoff, with Gerry joining new partner Steve as he returns to Scotland to help inaugurate their new UCOS team but discovers that he's really there to help solve an old case that no one else wants to dirty their hands on. The final show of the season, "Part of a Whole", marks the return of Tim McInnerny as sneaky government agent Stephen Fisher, as a 30-year-old undercover exploit threatens the lives of everyone originally involved--including D.A.C. Strickland--in a riveting tale loaded with intrigue, action, and surprises.

The 3-disc, 10-episode DVD from Acorn Media is in 16:9 widescreen with Dolby Digital sound and English subtitles. Bonuses consist of two featurettes--a "making of" short (12 min.) and a look at some of the stunts involved in the episode, "Part of a Whole."

With more cast changes supposedly in the offing (I hear about these things but don't follow up on them because I don't want to spoil it for myself), one wonders how long "New Tricks" can continue to operate with its original cast dwindling. But for now anyway, NEW TRICKS: SEASON NINE is quite enough to keep fans satisfied a while longer. As usual, it's the interactions of the characters more than the sometimes overly-complicated plots that really keep us coming back for more.

Buy it at Amazon.com

NEW TRICKS: SEASON NINE -- DVD review by porfle

JACK TAYLOR: SET 1 -- DVD review by porfle

Jack Taylor is, as they say, a hot mess. "How the mighty have fallen" his own mother sourly remarks of the former Garda (i.e., Irish cop) for the city of Galway, now kicked off the force for misbehaving and working as a lowly private investigator who can't stay off the sauce. In this trio of feature-length adventures in Acorn Media's 3-disc collection JACK TAYLOR: SET 1, it's a wonder that the terminally hungover and frequently beaten-within-an-inch-of-his-life gumshoe ever makes it through a case alive.

We're introduced to Jack pretty cold, without the usual "getting to know you" formalities, so at first he comes off as a fairly unlikable character as we see him throwing his Garda career away by chasing down the car of a government bigwig for "speeding" and then punching the guy's lights out for complaining. Jack then gets drunk, gets de-badged, gets drunk again, sinks to the level of becoming a "finder" (they don't seem to be popular in Ireland), and celebrates by getting drunk.

It isn't until we start finding out why Jack stays loaded all the time that we begin to warm up to him somewhat, beginning with his less than idyllic upbringing (meeting his mom tells us a lot) and his generally unfortunate experiences in regard to all manner of personal relationships. The only people who seem to like him are an inexplicably supportive landlady, a prickly, chain-smoking priest (Paraic Breathnach as Father Malachy), and a young female Garda named Kate (the striking Nora-Jane Noone of THE DESCENT) who doesn't know him well enough yet to dislike him, along with various old drinking buddies who have a tendency to get killed or turn out to be bad guys.

Anyway, after seeing what Jack has to put up with on a daily basis, his chronic alcoholism becomes somewhat more understandable and he begins to grow on us. (Like a rash.) Most importantly, the cases he gets drawn into are consistently interesting, leading us through all sorts of deepening twists and turns and dramatic character exchanges before coming to a suspenseful finish.

Making things harder for Jack is his tendency to get soundly thrashed (we're talking emergency-room-level beat-ups here) and to react to bad news by going on a "lost weekend" bender that would make Ray Milland jealous, then waking up with no memory of the previous three days or so. (Which tends to hinder his job performance.) And bad news is a major part of his job since, coincidentally, most of the cases he takes on seem to involve people from his personal life including his own hatchet-faced mum.

Iain Glen (THE IRON LADY, TARA ROAD), who has the ability to look either shabbily distinguished or just plain shabby, is an ideal choice to play Jack. Glen allows us to see the good qualities that Jack keeps hidden beneath his rough exterior, but also manages to convey a menacing resolve that comes to the fore when Jack gets kicked around once too often. The rest of the regular cast are fine as well, especially Nora-Jane Noone as Jack's reluctant insider ally, Kate. Direction by Stuart Orme (COLDITZ) is casual but controlled, which fits the material and atmosphere of the show well. Scriptwriting is consistently sharp.

The first feature-length episode, "The Guards" (2010), is Jack's origin story, as it were. The bodies of young girls are washing up onshore and the police tend to chalk it up to suicide. Anne (Tara Breathnach), the mother of a missing teenage girl, hires Jack to find her daughter before she meets the same mysterious fate. Jack enlists the aid of an old drinking mate, Sutton (Ralph Brown, ALIEN 3's celebrated "Eighty-Five"), when he discovers a connection between the drownings and a couple of local businessmen who may have a few unsavory sexual hang-ups. The trouble is, Sutton turns out to be just as out-of-control as the bad guys, turning Jack's investigation into a royal cock-up that isn't helped when he starts getting romantic with his client. Once we get to know and like Jack, "The Guards" becomes an engrossing murder mystery with a satisfying ending.

"The Pikemen" (2011) is the story of a group of hooded vigilantes terrorizing Galway, with Jack being hired by the father of a man murdered by the gang for no apparent reason. Jack picks up an unwanted partner named Cody (Killian Scott), an enthusiastic teen who idolizes him and wants to be Robin to Jack's Batman. With their signature weapons--a combination axe and spear--the Pikemen wreak bloody havoc with anyone they consider guilty of a crime for which they've gone unpunished, while making things unpleasant for Jack when he starts getting too close. Jack gets beaten up really bad, in addition to being framed for murder, in this extremely lively and emotional tale about unbearable guilt and self-righteous vengeance.

Finally, "The Magdalen Martyrs" (2011) is the heartrending tale of a sadistic nun (Sarah O'Toole) aptly nicknamed "Lucifer" by the young girls whose lives she makes a living hell by torturing them for their sins (such as smoking and having lustful thoughts). Years later, the daughter of one of the girls hires Jack to locate "Lucifer" with the help of a diary, through which--in one of those wild coincidences that this show asks us to accept--Jack discovers that his own mother was one of the monstrous nun's cowering victims.

With all this juicy stuff going on, there's a subplot in which teen boys are being murdered by a professional hitman, with Jack's old drug-dealing nemesis Cassel (Liam Carney) lingering at death's door just long enough to make Jack's life miserable for reasons as yet unknown. How these two seemingly unrelated storylines come together leads to an intensely exciting nailbiting conclusion that ends this set with a bang.

The 3-disc set from Acorn Media is in 16:9 widescreen with Dolby Digital sound and subtitles in English. Extras consist of a brief photo gallery for each episode.

In a world that has no respect for private detectives, and doesn't deem you automatically cool just for being one, Jack Taylor overcomes his personal vices and shortcomings and manages to do the right thing for his clients--eventually--while giving us some first-class entertainment along the way. JACK TAYLOR: SET 1 is sophisticated adult stuff, straight-up and 100 proof, and just right for a lost weekend of intoxicating binge viewing.

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JACK TAYLOR: SET 1 -- DVD review by porfle

THE MANSON FAMILY -- Blu-Ray review by porfle

If you've followed the Manson family case over the years, chances are you've seen the whole range of stuff from sober documentary-style films to the most exploitative trash that various sick minds can churn out. THE MANSON FAMILY (2003) falls somewhere in between the two extremes for most of its running time before finally delving feet first into extreme gore and wallowing around in it.



One thing's for sure, this isn't just some fly-by-night knock-off. Writer-director Jim Van Bebber spent close to twelve years, off and on, trying to get his vision of Charlie and the gang into releasable shape and in front of audiences, and clearly a great deal of work went into it. While loosely edited and seemingly slapdash at times, this merely adds to the documentary feel the film often achieves--in fact, much of its visual and narrative style is based largely on the amazing Robert Hendrickson-Laurence Merrick documentary "Manson" (1973), which featured the real Manson family going about their everyday psychotic lives at Spahn Ranch and engaging in sex and drug orgies while regurgitating buttloads of verbal sewage their spongelike minds had absorbed from their googly-eyed, motormouthed leader. To make it resemble old documentary footage even more, the film has been heavily aged "Grindhouse" style.



Van Bebber cherry-picked the most interesting and/or believable passages from the various first-hand (but often contradictory) accounts available for his screenplay, relying mainly on that of Manson's right-hand man Charles "Tex" Watson because of his apparent ability to remember things in detail. The first three-quarters of the film establish Charlie's initial influence over his easily manipulated followers, many of whom were runaways seeking love and stability or anti-establishment rebels looking to drop out of society. With the strangely charismatic ex-con Charlie coming on like a sage to some and a messianic figure to others, the story is told largely in a stream-of-consciousness style that's sometimes surreal and sometimes hyper-real.



This includes copious amounts of softcore sex scenes featuring some women who look remarkably stunning in the nude, particularly Leslie Orr as Patty Krenwinkel and Maureen Allisse as Manson's favorite, Susan Atkins, aka "Sadie Mae Glutz" (both of whom were actually rather homely in real life). Their seemingly idyllic lifestyle, however, gradually gives way to darker accounts of gang-rape, kidnapping, and threats of bodily harm to those who want to leave the family. Charlie's criminal tendencies come to the fore in other ways as well, with violence and terror becoming the standard means of getting what he wants.



It's at this point, late in the film, that THE MANSON FAMILY starts to fulfill what we've come to anticipate will eventually take place on the screen if indeed Van Bebber has chosen to go the exploitation route--which he has, with a vengeance. Various early murders include the marathon death of Gary Hinman at the hands of Bobby Beausoleil (Van Bebber) and Sadie, culminating in the infamous two nights of horror that comprised the Tate/LaBianca murders. Those familiar with Vincent Bugliosi's "Helter Skelter" and other detailed accounts of the killings will recognize much of what happens here as true-to-life even as they recoil at seeing it portrayed in such graphic, gore-movie terms.



Van Bebber pulls no punches here--the screen is awash in blood as beatings, stabbings, slashings, strangulations, and shootings abound in the most graphic detail, with very little left to the imagination. It may leave some viewers wondering just how healthy or unhealthy their interest in this material is--are they watching to learn about these events, or to get a vicarious thrill from seeing them? Is Van Bebber simply playing up to our basest instincts here, or is he forcing us to confront the horrors that we usually only allow ourselves to imagine in the most vague terms? And what of the gorehounds whose only consideration, as we're well aware, is simply to react in paroxysms of delight? Needless to say, we're left to work out all of these conflicting feelings ourselves.



With all of this going on, it's a shame that the central figure of the story, Charles Manson, is so miscast, with Marcelo Games almost wholly ineffective in the role. It's hard to imagine anyone paying any attention to this guy, much less following him into hell. On the other hand, Leslie Orr and Maureen Allisse are fantastic as Patty and Sadie, with Orr in particular doing a superb job of aping the typical Manson fanatic stridently spouting Charlie-isms or reacting with a combination of revulsion and sadistic glee at her own brutality.



Marc Pitman looks nothing like "Tex" Watson but carries the role fairly well especially during the harrowing Tate sequence in which he is seen sporting demonic ram's horns (although he doesn't levitate as Atkins claimed he did in her memoirs) and doing most of the killing himself. The rest of the cast varies wildly, with some coming off rather poorly and others quite convincing during the "interview" segments.



The Blu-Ray disc from Severin Films is in full frame with Dolby 5.1 sound. No subtitles. Lots of extras include Jim Van Bebber's recent horror short "Gator Green", his audio commentary for the film, an interview with composer Phil Anselmo, deleted scenes and trailers, a 10-minute interview with Charlie himself (which is typically incomprehensible), a lengthy making-of doc called "The Van Bebber Family" featuring cast and crew interviews, and a feature-length film "In the Belly of the Beast" which explores the trials and travails of Van Bebber and other indie filmmakers (including "Hardware" director Richard Stanley) as they preview their work at the 1997 Fantasia Film Festival.



For a movie with such a patchwork production history, THE MANSON FAMILY is remarkably consistent--Van Bebber picks up the threads of this supremely lurid story and weaves them inexorably through the family's evolution from free-love hippie commune to ragtag guerilla army of terror and murder. (Only the latter-day subplot about a Goth murder gang emulating the Manson family in the 90s seems out of place.) It's a damned ugly story, though, especially with these real-life murders depicted in such excruciating detail, and each individual viewer is going to have to decide whether they consider this a good movie or an affront to their sensibilities. As for me, I found this earnestly-made indie to be intermittently interesting, somewhat entertaining, and moderately worthwhile.

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THE MANSON FAMILY -- Blu-Ray review by porfle

HBO Home Entertainment's "Behind the Candelabra" Stars Michael Douglas as Liberace

"A Visual Feast" - USA Today

BEHIND THE CANDELABRA

Starring Academy Award® winners Michael Douglas and Matt Damon

Directed by Academy Award®-winning Director Steven Soderbergh

Available September 17, 2013 on Blu-ray™ with Digital Copy, DVD & Digital Download

New York, N.Y., June 6, 2013 - As glittering and outrageous as Liberace himself, HBO Films® Behind the Candelabra takes a look at the flamboyant entertainer's private world, focusing on his tempestuous relationship with Scott Thorson, his young live-in lover for five years. Based on Thorson's tell-all memoir "Behind the Candelabra: My Life with Liberace," the film is directed by Academy Award® winner Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) and features electrifying performances by Academy Award® winners Michael Douglas (Wall Street) as Liberace and Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting) as Thorson.

During its premiere, the film became one of HBO's most watched original films in nearly 10 years. Behind the Candelabra streets on Blu-ray with Digital Copy ($24.99), DVD ($19.97) and Digital Download on September 17, 2013. The Blu-ray with Digital Copy includes "The Making of Behind the Candelabra" which explores the legacy of Liberace through costumes, sets, locations, and prosthetics with several cast and the crew members including Douglas and Damon.

Before Elvis, before Elton John, Madonna and Lady Gaga, there was Liberace: virtuoso pianist, outrageous entertainer and flamboyant star of stage and television. A name synonymous with showmanship, extravagance and candelabras, he was a world-renowned performer with a flair that endeared him to his audiences and created a loyal fan base spanning his 40-year career. Liberace lived lavishly and embraced a lifestyle of excess both on and off stage.

In summer 1977, handsome young stranger Scott Thorson walked into his dressing room and, despite their age difference and seemingly different worlds, the two embarked on a secretive five-year love affair. Behind the Candelabra captures the essence of Liberace's appeal, while reminding viewers how different attitudes were at the time, as he and his management fiercely protected his public persona.

The film features an all-star supporting cast including Emmy® winner and Academy Award® nominee Dan Aykroyd, Golden Globe winner and Emmy® nominee Scott Bakula, SAG Award winner and multiple Golden Globe nominee Rob Lowe, Tom Papa, multiple Emmy® and Golden Globe nominee Paul Reiser and Academy Award® Golden Globe and Emmy® nominee Debbie Reynolds. Executive produced by Emmy®-winning producer Jerry Weintraub from a script by Academy Award® nominee Richard LaGravenese, the film is produced by Gregory Jacobs, Susan Ekins and Michael Polaire (Contagion, Haywire) and music was adapted by the late Marvin Hamlisch.

Behind the Candelabra
Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, DVD & Digital Download
Street Date: September 17, 2012
Order Date: July 30, 2012
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Approx. 118 minutes (excluding bonus feature)
Price: $24.99 Blu-ray with Digital Copy (1 Disc)
Price: $19.97 DVD (1 Disc)

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HBO Home Entertainment's "Behind the Candelabra" Stars Michael Douglas as Liberace

AMC's "THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON" On Blu-ray and DVD August 27th

ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT CONTINUES THE JOURNEY WITH AMC’S “THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON”

EXPERIENCE IT ON BLU-RAY™ AND DVD AUGUST 27, 2013; LIMITED EDITION “ZOMBIE HEAD TANK” DESIGNED BY MCFARLANE TOYS

BEVERLY HILLS , CA – It has become a cultural phenomenon. The fans embrace it, the critics adore it. And now the stakes have never been higher for the survivors...On August 27th, Anchor Bay Entertainment unleashes AMC’s original series THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON on Blu-ray™ and DVD. Available as a 5-disc set in each format, the release contains all sixteen episodes from the past season. Like the previous releases, THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON comes stuffed with tons of bonus features, including exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, never-before-seen featurettes, audio commentaries from cast and crew, deleted scenes and other surprises!

In addition, Anchor Bay proudly announces that, in response to overwhelming fan response to last year’s Season 2 limited edition “zombie head” packaging, THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON Blu-ray™ will be available in a limited edition “zombie head tank” package (water not included!) specially created once again by McFarlane Toys. SRP is $79.99 for the Blu-ray™, $69.98 for the DVD and $149.99 for the Blu-ray™ limited edition. Pre-book is July 31st.

Based on the hugely popular graphic novels by Robert Kirkman, THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON continues to draw in record audiences. Season 3 follows the weary group of survivors led by police officer Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), as they take refuge in a prison and attempt to set up a permanent camp. But while invading zombies are an ever-present danger, they must also battle the living, not only in the form of abandoned prisoners, but also the sadistic “Governor” (David Morrissey) and his followers. New characters introduced this season include Danai Gurira as “Michonne,” with her two “zombie pets” in tow, and Dallas Roberts (Shadow People) as the Governor’s lieutenant Milton, as well as the return of Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker).

THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON cast also includes Laurie Holden, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, IronE Singleton, Chandler Riggs, Scott Wilson and Melissa McBride.

Season 4 of “The Walking Dead” premieres on AMC this October.

About AMC
Whether commemorating favorite films from every genre and decade or creating acclaimed original programming, AMC brings to its audience something deeper, something richer, Something More. The network reigns as the only cable network in history ever to win the Emmy® Award for Outstanding Drama Series four years in a row, and boasts the most-watched drama series in basic cable history with “The Walking Dead.” AMC’s original drama series include “Mad Men,” “Breaking Bad,” “The Walking Dead,” “The Killing” and “Hell on Wheels.” Its newest series, “Low Winter Sun,” premieres this summer. AMC also explores authentic worlds with bold characters through its slate of unscripted original series like “Comic Book Men,” “Small Town Security,” “Talking Dead,” and “Freakshow.” AMC is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc. and its sister networks include IFC, Sundance Channel, and WE tv. AMC is available across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile. AMC: Something More.

About Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment is a leading home entertainment company. Anchor Bay acquires and distributes feature films, original television programming including STARZ Original series, children's entertainment, anime (Manga Entertainment), fitness (Anchor Bay Fitness), sports, and other filmed entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray™ formats. The company has long term distribution agreements in place for select programming with AMC Networks, RADiUS, and The Weinstein Company. Headquartered in Beverly Hills , CA , Anchor Bay Entertainment has offices in Troy , MI , as well as Canada , the United Kingdom and Australia . Anchor Bay Entertainment (www.anchorbayentertainment.com) is a Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) business, www.starz.com.

THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON Blu-ray™
Street Date: August 27, 2013
Pre-book: July 31, 2013
Cat. #: BD60091
UPC: 0 1313 260091-8 8 0
Run Time: 688 Minutes
Rating: Not Rated
SRP: $79.99
Format: Widescreen Presentation 1.78:1
Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 7.1 and French Dolby Surround 2.0
Subtitles: English and Spanish

THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON DVD
Street Date: August 27, 2013
Pre-book: July 31, 2013
Cat. #: DV60090
UPC: 1313 260090-1 8 0
Run Time: 688 Minutes
Rating: Not Rated
SRP: $69.98
Format: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1)
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 and French Dolby Surround 2.0
Subtitles: English and Spanish

THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON Limited Edition Blu-ray™
Street Date: August 27, 2013
Pre-book: July 31, 2013
Cat. #: BD60540
UPC: 0 1313 260540-1 8 0
Run Time: 688 Minutes
Rating: Not Rated
SRP: $149.99
Format: Widescreen Presentation 1.78:1
Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 7.1 and French Dolby Surround 2.0
Subtitles: English and Spanish

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Blu-Ray Limited Edition

AMC's "THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON" On Blu-ray and DVD August 27th

"THE DEMENTED" from Anchor Bay Films – Catch it July 30th on Blu-ray/DVD Combo and DVD

“This is not a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. We are under attack...”

BEWARE OF "THE DEMENTED" FROM ANCHOR BAY FILMS

Spreading terror July 30th on Blu-ray™/DVD Combo Pack and DVD

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Horror films often take their cue from daily newspaper headlines, feeding on the all-too-real fears of the everyday world. Like the best science fiction, sometimes horror lies just around the corner or beyond the bend of what we know. On July 30th, Anchor Bay Films unleashes the biological warfare thriller The Demented on Blu-ray™/DVD combo pack and DVD. From the creative minds behind I Spit On Your Grave and A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Demented is a terrifying excursion into a plague-infected world...where one moment off guard is all that keeps us from becoming them.

With a hot cast including Sarah Butler (I Spit On Your Grave), Brittney Alger (21 Jump Street), Kayla Ewell (“The Vampire Diaries”), Richard Kohnke (“The Carrie Diaries”) and Michael Welch (The Twilight Saga Franchise), The Demented will have you on the edge of your seat until the very last frame! SRP for the Blu-ray™/DVD Combo Pack is $29.99 and $24.98 for the DVD. Pre-book is July 3rd.

The Demented follows six college friends as they meet up for a carefree weekend in a beautiful rural home. A terrorist missile attack in a nearby town infects much of the townspeople with a deadly virus that induces rabies-like symptoms...with devastating consequences. Ravenous and fast, the infected townspeople turn their sights on the vacation home where the friends are gathered...and are now barricaded. How long can they hide? Even with the infected “sleeping” in the streets, can they make their escape? If so, to what?

About Anchor Bay Films:
Anchor Bay Films is a division of Anchor Bay Entertainment and provides quality movie distribution with operations in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and offers distribution capabilities in other key territories. Anchor Bay Films uniquely offers the creative community a fully integrated distribution capability on all platforms and an international solution extending beyond the United States. The company focuses on a platform release strategy for its films with an eye toward maximizing their potential across all ancillary distribution platforms. Anchor Bay Entertainment (www.anchorbayentertainment.com) is a Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) business, www.starz.com.

THE DEMENTED Blu-ray™/DVD COMBO
Street date: July 30, 2013
Pre-book: July 3, 2013
Item #: 013132606965
UPC: BD60696
Run time: 92 minutes
Rating: R
Subtitles: English SDH/Spanish
SRP: $29.99
Format: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) 1080p (Blu)
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (Blu)

THE DEMENTED DVD
Street date: July 30, 2013
Pre-book: July 3, 2013
Item #: 013132606941
UPC: AF60694
Run time: 92 minutes
Rating: R
Subtitles: English SDH/Spanish
SRP: $24.98
Format: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1)
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1


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Blu-Ray/DVD Combo

"THE DEMENTED" from Anchor Bay Films – Catch it July 30th on Blu-ray/DVD Combo and DVD