1 2 3

(Enlarge)

The approach of another Halloween is reason enough for video labels to start coughing up their hair-raisers. We begin our annual survey with some "safe for kiddies" fare and proceed to less wholesome diversions. Somewhere you should find a goosebump with your name on it.

Pooh goes Boo!

*"Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie" Gift Set (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, rated G, DVD $29.99). When it's discovered that Pooh has eaten all the Halloween candy, Roo and a newcomer to Hundred Acre Woods named Lumpy the Heffalump set off to acquire more trick-or-treat supplies and save Halloween. The sweet DVD contains not just the 66-minute feature but several warm-and-fuzzy extras, a "party planner" of pumpkin activities, games and a "beanz plush" toy of Pooh in a Tigger costume. Aww-www.

*"Tom and Jerry's Greatest Chases" Volume 3 (Warner Home Video, not rated, DVD $14.97). Following the first two best-sellers come 14 more colorful comedy shorts from William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Released between 1941 and 1956, these are from the classic period, and include two of the pair's first Oscar-winning "Mouseketeers" cartoons and "The Flying Sorceress," in which Tom becomes a witch's apprentice in order to get the jump on Jerry once and for all.

Pitching camp

*"The William Castle Film Collection" (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, not rated, five-disc DVD set, $80.95 suggested retail). Those of a certain age will remember when William Castle meant chilling movie entertainment, often presented with a corny splash of P.T. Barnum ballyhoo. Eight of Castle's independent productions for Columbia are included here -- though without the showman's "Ghost Viewer" filters, electrified seats or floating skeletons.

It includes his breakout 1959 hit, "The Tingler," starring Vincent Price as a scientist who discovers fear is really a spinal parasite, and such childhood stand-bys as 1960's "13 Ghosts," and two 1961 thrillers, "Mr. Sardonicus" and "Homicidal." It also includes Joan Crawford's late-career contribution to the "Hollywood battle ax" genre, 1964's "Straight-Jacket."

Less widely known (and deservedly so) are a Disney-style prep school spy comedy called "13 Frightened Girls" and two Tom Poston comedies, the empowerment fantasy "Zotz!" from 1962 and a color remake of "The Old Dark House" that has very little to do with the J.B. Priestley play. All of these widescreen transfers make the films look surprisingly shiny and new, and the discs boast trailers, alternate sequences and extras related to their making.

Also included is a rare TV pilot for an unsold Castle series titled "Ghost Story" and -- the best reason to collect the set -- a 2007 full-length documentary on Castle's unique career titled "Spine-Tingler: The William Castle Story." Wham-o, instant childhood!

*"Karloff & Lugosi Horror Classics" (Warner Home Video, not rated, two-disc DVD $26.98). Keep moving, ladies and gentlemen, there are no real horror classics here -- though that doesn't mean there's nothing to see. Besides Karloff's 1936 gangster melodrama "The Walking Dead," about a revenge-seeking criminal brought back to life after his prison execution, it includes his infamous 1958 turkey "Frankenstein 1970," long sought by completists and others who heard of its many unintentional laughs. One of the rarer CinemaScope productions shot in black-and-white, it comes complete with a gossipy commentary track about the cast and script problems that's more fun than the movie itself.

Then Bela Lugosi provokes a few laughs in two "B" comedies that are still fairly entertaining: "You'll Find Out," a 1940 haunted house programmer with music (and an Oscar-nominated song) by radio star Kay Kyser and his orchestra, and 1945's "Zombies on Broadway," another RKO mix of show-biz and chills, with burlesque comics Wally Brown and Alan Carney as wacky press agents headed to the Caribbean in search of a real zombie to prop up a nightclub premiere. Think of it as Granddad's "Scooby-Doo."

Blu goes Boo!, too

MGM and 20th Century-Fox Home Entertainment are conjuring up killer spirits from the recent past, making them look extra crisp and colorful for fans on Blu-ray Disc. Most notably, these include a new high-definition "Hannibal Lecter Collection" (rated R, $69.95), which bundles the three most famous Thomas Harris novels as interpreted by a trio of first-rate directors: Michael Mann's "Manhunter," Jonathan Demme's "Silence of the Lambs" and Ridley Scott's "Hannibal." All have a look to die for, and the latter two include bonus extras.

Also part of 20th Century-Fox's Blu-ray hope chest are "Child's Play" (rated R, $24.95), which presents a mint-perfect copy of everyone's favorite homicidal devil-doll, Chuckie, and Stephen King's "Misery" (rated R, $24.95), pitting captive best-selling author James Caan against deranged stalker Kathy Bates in a tussle to the death. Both titles include a whole second DVD of commentaries, featurettes and extras.

Also making a memorable Blu-ray bow is the label's 2003 hit, "Wrong Turn" (rated R, $29.95), which revitalized the "backwoods butcher" genre with gory ingenuity. This is the one where Eliza Dushku and her hunky friend are chased up a forest-ranger's watchtower by a clan of inbred mutants and end up battling them in the tree tops. It never looked more like a cinematic tour-de-force than in the crystal clarity of 1080p resolution. Even its more earthbound sequel, "Wrong Turn 2: Dead End," leaves a much stronger impression in its Blu-ray debut at that same price point. There's also a double-feature DVD of both titles priced at $34.95.

More recent chills

"I Can See You" (Kino, $24.95). Slated to arrive in time for Halloween, this independent feature debut may turn some heads among horror fans. Three sophomoric ad-men head off for a brainstorming weekend in the country. When one's girlfriend meets with foul play, though, it unleashes David Lynch-style hallucinations that will leave you scratching your head. It has enough original effects and a start or two to help you overlook the amateur acting. The DVD also includes a new 3-D short titled "The Viewer" that adds successful dimensional depth to its flat-out incomprehensible plot.

"Scare Tactics" Season Three (Warner Home Video, not rated, two-disc DVD set $29.98). How is it that all the targeted "victims" of this show's elaborate pranks so quickly realize they've been had? If I was persuaded that I had just witnessed Satan's offspring being born, or that I was in the presence of an escaped psycho, it would take me more than a few seconds to regain my composure when everyone jumped out yelling "Ha, ha! Got ya!" So if you know the cable show, you could be next in line, especially if any of your "friends" are passive-aggressive sorts who feel you're "over-confident" and in need of "freaking out." Comic host Tracy Morgan seems to relish a bit too much the 13 episodes with their 52 separate and "uncensored" humiliations contained therein. Some bloopers and behind-the-scenes extras complete the package.

"The Hills Run Red" (Warner Home Video, rated R, $19.98). Dark Castle and Warner Premiere present this direct-to-video original about a trio of horror film fanatics who get their just desserts on a wilderness quest to locate a missing horror movie and its director. (Shouldn't do that.) William Sadler headlines a cast of unknowns in a predictable plasma-spurter that also includes a commentary track.

Opening the Weinstein vault

Horror and chiller fans have seen it all. But the Weinstein Company is putting together a new repertoire of blood and mayhem for genre fans under its duo banners of Genius Products and Dimension Extreme. You'll have to send your gentler side out of the room first, but then settle back, turn down the lights and get ready to squirm, gasp and claw at your armchair. Among the available titles, all rated R or unrated and priced under $20 each, are:

*"Dead in 3 Days." Even with frequent chases and killings and in a foreign tongue requiring subtitles, the absence of story and logical character behavior are sorely felt. Witness this German-language import, which is basically "Scream" replayed in an isolated small town. A circle of friends gets the text message with the film's title warning. Could someone be plotting graphic revenge against them for some perceived childhood wrong? So why give them advance warning? At least the faces in this one are fresh.

*"Dorothy Mills." Carice van Houten stars as a Dublin psychiatrist confronted by the case of a strange village girl who may be possessed by supernatural forces. Filmmaker Agnes Merlet ("Artemisia"), unfortunately, is possessed by the intention to create fine art, so everything is understated, including the thrills.

*"Eden Lake." The British response to "Wolf Creek" finds a young couple's romantic getaway brought to a grotesque end by a sociopathic gang of feral teens. It's more torture aimed at the "Saw" and "Amusement" crowd. A similar fate, by the way, awaits the Spanish vacationers in another Dimension import titled "King of the Hill."

*"Feast III: The Happy Finish." The final entry in John Gulager's monster trilogy continues the filmmakers' sour take on heroism. Whenever characters step up to the plate to take charge, you can count on things turning out bloody badly for them. That said, there's a dark humor and resourceful spirit to these films that reach a fitting conclusion here for the initiated.

*"Infected." It can't be a good thing for one's career to turn up in an amateur hack job like this, which centers on an extraterrestrial invasion being spread via big agribusiness. Here Isabella Rossellini and Judd Nelson lend their names and presence to a generally lame cast battling tentacled monsters on a shoe-string budget.

New, and on the lighter side

"The Proposal" (Buena Vista Home Entertainment, rated PG-13, $29.95; two-disc Blu-ray $44.99). Ryan Reynolds steals the show as the hard-to-get love object in this gender twist on a tired workplace farce. Sandra Bullock proves a good sport as an overbearing Manhattan book editor who makes life miserable for Reynolds until she finds she needs him to marry her in order to avoid being deported back to Canada. Complications ensue when they fly off to meet his family and all their expectations in rural Alaska. If you don't care for the ending here, there's an alternate and loads of other extras on the new DVD.

user comments (0)