‘Hills Have Eyes’ remake to scare viewers as Halloween approaches
Looking for a movie with genuine scares on this Halloween weekend? If you listen to director Quentin Tarantino (“Pulp Fiction”), there’s only one choice.
“I’m excited about all of the horror movies that are coming out – the explosion of ultra-violent horror movies,” the energized filmmaker said in a recent issue of Entertainment Weekly. “The best movie I saw this year was the ‘Hills Have Eyes’ remake.
“I’m not a huge Wes Craven fan and I always thought the first one (1977) was overrated anyway. The new one is really creepy and really good. It eats apples off the head of the original!”
Directed by talented Alexandra Aja (“High Tension”), “The Hills Have Eyes: Unrated – The Version to Die For” (Fox; $29.99, DVD) is available, as is the regular R-rated theatrical version.
Other recently released or re-mastered titles guaranteed to give viewers some chilling tricks include:
– “Cemetery Man” (Anchor Bay; $19.99, DVD) with Rupert Everett (“My Best Friends Wedding”) in an import about a graveyard caretaker who spends most of his time battling fresh corpses who won’t remain in the ground. This marks the first time an unrated version of the fright film – aka “Dellamorte Dellamore” – has been released here. The extras include a 30-minute featurette that examines the film’s origins and the career of director Michele Soavi.
– “Dust Devil: The Final Cut” (Subversive; $29.99, DVD) with director Richard Stanley finally presenting a complete version of his 1992 film, which was shot in Namibia and based on a South African folk tale about a supernatural spirit that gains power through murder. This four-disc set also includes three making-of documentaries and a bonus compact-disc soundtrack.
– “The Exorcist: The Complete Anthology” (Warner; $42.99, DVD) with every version of the series based on William Peter Blatty’s book about a possessed little girl. They are: the original “The Exorcist” (1973); the extended version “Exorcist: The Version You’ve Never Seen”; the disastrous sequel “Exorcist II: The Heretic” (1977); the third installment “The Exorcist III” (1990); the prequel “Exorcist: The Beginning” (2004); and the alternate prequel “Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist” (2005).
– “Masters of Horror: Pick Me Up” (Anchor Bay; $16.99) with cult director Larry Cohen (“It’s Alive”) directing a Showtime title about a serial killer (Michael Moriarty of TV’s “Law and Order”) who seeks hitchhikers as victims and a hitchhiker (Warren Kole of TV’s “Into the West”) who preys on drivers who pick him up. Fairuza Balk (“The Craft”) plays a young woman trapped between the two maniacs. The extras include commentary by Cohen and interviews with the three stars.
– “Monster House” (Sony; $28.99, DVD) with the voices of Steve Buscemi (“Fargo”), Maggie Gyllenhaal (“World Trade Center) and Jon Heder (“Napoleon Dynamite”) in a wonderfully realized PG-rated picture about kids discovering the secrets of a haunted dwelling. Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg co-produced this visually impressive picture which, like Zemeckis’ hit “The Polar Express,” uses a state of the art 3D computer-generated-image process called “performance capture.” (The process blends cinema and computer-generated imagery. The actors’ performances are recorded using digital cameras and those performances become the basis for the image.)
The result should impress adults and engage children.
– “A Nightmare on Elm Street: Two-Disc Infinifilm Special Edition” (New Line; $26.99, DVD) with Robert Englund as madman Freddy Krueger in a digitally re-mastered version of the 1984 fright favorite. The extras include audio commentary by Englund and director Wes Craven, a making-of documentary (“Never Sleep Again”), a featurette on Craven (“Night Terrors”) and a trivia game (“Freddy’s Coming For You”).
– “The Omen: Collector’s Edition – Two-Disc 30th Anniversary Edition” (Fox; $26.99, DVD) with Gregory Peck and Lee Remick in the original chiller about a couple inadvertently raising the anti-Christ. The extras include: five making-of featurettes, commentary by director Richard Donner, composer Jerry Goldsmith discussing the haunting score, Peck’s script with original notes and the theatrical trailer.
– “Saw II: Special Edition – Unrated” (Lionsgate; $26.99, DVD) with Donnie Wahlberg (“The Sixth Sense”) and Shawnee Smith (“The Island”) in an even grislier version of the horror hit in which the evil Jigsaw traps some young adults in a shelter.
– “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: 2-Disc Ultimate Edition” (Dark Sky; $29.99, DVD) with Gunnar Hansen as the tool-wielding madman Leatherface in a lavish version of director Tobe Hooper’s grisly 1974 favorite. The high-definition image came from 16mm original footage and the soundtrack has been re-mixed in 5.1 surround. The numerous extras include commentary by Hooper, Hansen and Marilyn Burns (who plays the terrified traveler pursued by Leatherface and his cannibal clan), two full-length documentaries (“Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Shocking Truth” and “Flesh Wounds”), deleted scenes, outtakes, bloopers and theatrical trailers.
– “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2: The Gruesome Edition” (MGM; $19.99, DVD) with Dennis Hopper in director Tobe Hooper’s underrated sequel that has a Texas Ranger avenging the murder of his relatives by the cannibal family. The extras include audio commentary by Hopper, deleted scenes and a 92-minute featurette (“It Runs in the Family”) on the follow-up.
– Two titles – “Dracula: 2-Disc 75th Anniversary Edition” with Bela Lugosi and “Frankenstein: 2-Disc 75th Anniversary Edition” with Boris Karloff (Universal; $26.99 each, DVD) – in the Universal Legacy Series. Both black-and-white titles have digitally remastered images and feature numerous extras.
Those in a partying mood can’t go wrong with the specially priced double-feature “The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Shock Treatment: 25th Anniversary Edition: 3-Disc Anniversary Edition” (Fox; $29.99, DVD). Both films were written by Richard O’Brien and “Shock” is considered the unofficial “Rocky Horror” sequel.
And for anyone seeking some old-fashioned family fun for Halloween, “The Addams Family: Volume One” (MGM/Fox; $29.99), has arrived. The quirky series (ABC; 1964-1966) was based on Charles Addams’ single-panel cartoons in The New Yorker magazine.
The offbeat show, which stars John Astin as Gomez, Carolyn Jones as Morticia, Jackie Coogan as Uncle Fester and Lisa Loring as Wednesday, should elicit some smiles from those who prefer lighter fright fare for Halloween fun.
Now Playing!
The following DVD titles are coming soon or have arrived at a video store near you.
If your local outlet doesn’t stock them, the DVD offerings can be mail ordered by calling (800) 523-0823 or going to the Web site moviesunlimited.com or amazon.com, unless otherwise noted.
Movies
– “An American Haunting” (Lionsgate; $28.99, DVD; Oct. 24) with Sissy Spacek (“Carrie”) and Donald Sutherland (“Don’t Look Now”) in a fright film based on Tennessee’s Bell Witch Case during the 1800s. It will be available in the R-rated theatrical cut and an unrated version.
– “Body Heat: 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition” (Warner; $19.99, DVD; Oct. 24) with Kathleen Turner (“Romancing the Stone”) and William Hurt (“The Big Chill”) in an R-rated neo-noir thriller about two lovers planning to murder the woman’s husband. Lawrence Kasdan wrote and directed the picture, which has been digitally remastered. The extras include three making-of featurettes, 1981 interview footage with Turner and Hurt and the theatrical trailer.
– “Looking for Kitty” (ThinkFilm; $29.99, DVD; Oct. 24) with Edward Burns (“Saving Private Ryan”) in an R-rated comedy about a guy who believes that his wife has run off to be a rock-band groupie and hires a private eye to find her.
– “Nacho Libre” (Paramount; $29.99, DVD; Oct. 24) with Jack Black (“King Kong”) in a PG-rated family tale about a cook who works at a Mexican orphanage and moonlights as a wrestler to earn money for the poor children.
– “Reservoir Dogs: 15th Anniversary Edition” (Lionsgate; $19.99, DVD; Oct. 24) with Quentin Tarantino (who also wrote and directed) and Harvey Keitel (“Taxi Driver”) in the R-rated crime drama about a robbery plan and its bloody aftermath.
– “Slither” (Universal; $29.99, DVD; $39.99, HD DVD; Oct. 24) with Nathan Fillion (“Serenity”) in an R-rated sci-fi action/comedy about alien organisms turning people into zombies.
Classic collections
– “The Astaire and Rogers Collection: Volume 2” (Warner; $59.99, DVD; Oct. 24) with dancing favorites Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in “Carefree” (1938), “Flying Down to Rio” (1933), “The Gay Divorcee” (1934), “Roberta” (1935) and “The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle” (1939). The titles have been digitally remastered and will also be available individually ($19.99 each).
Documentary
– “Viva Baseball” (Anchor Bay; $14.99, DVD; now available) with filmmaker Dan Klores directing a documentary about the Latin-American athletes who fought to play baseball in the major leagues.
Television
– “Commander in Chief: Season One – The Inaugural Edition” (Buena Vista; $39.99, DVD; now available) with Geena Davis (“Thelma & Louise”) in a four-disc set containing the TV-14 episodes from the series about the first woman President of the United States.
Children/Family
– “All About John Deere for Kids, Part 4” (TM Books & Video; $14.99, DVD; $12.99, VHS; now available), a documentary spotlighting the John Deere fleet of farm and construction machines and showing what they can do and how they do it.
– “Bratz Passion 4 Fashion Diamondz!” (Fox; $19.99, DVD; now available) with the girl-power posse – created via computer-generated animation – heading to New York City in a search for far-out clothes, shoes and accessories.