Image Bows Midnight Madness Collection

Image Entertainment has debuted the Image Midnight Madness series, featuring vintage ’80s horror films from Lakeshore Entertainment.

Due Sept. 6 are Children of the Corn (DVD and BD) Hellraiser (DVD and BD), Hellbound: Hellraiser II (DVD and BD), Creepshow 2 (from Stephen King and George Romero; DVD), Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (DVD), Return of the Killer Tomatoes (DVD), Vamp (starring Grace Jones; DVD and Blu-ray), House (DVD), House II (DVD), Return to Horror High (DVD) and Transylvania 6-5000 (DVD).

Streeting on DVD Sept. 20 are Dead End Drive-In, Flowers in the Attic, Slugs, The Stuff and Chud.

All DVDs are listed at $9.98 and Blu-rays at $17.97.
 

Phase 4 Slates 3D VOD Release ‘Scar’

Jed Weintrob’s 3-D horror film Scar will be the first-ever stereoscopic 3D video-on-demand film released through major cable broadcasters Oct. 1, according to its distributor, Phase 4 Films.

Consumers who own 3D HDTVs and liquid crystal shutter glasses will be able to view the film in stereoscopic 3D, while Phase 4 also will release a 2D version of Scar through VOD the same day. The film tells the story of a young woman who escaped the clutches of sadistic mortician Ernie Bishop and killed him, only to years later face a copycat killer and allegations against her as the new killer. 
 
“If Freddie Krueger, Michael Myers, Jason Vorhees and Jigsaw had a party, they would have invited Ernie Bishop,” said Berry Meyerowitz, president and CEO of Phase 4 Films. “This film is a total crowd pleaser for those who love to be scared out of their minds, and we are really excited about taking it to audiences. With the popularity of 3D films and as more consumers increasingly recreate the theater experience by buying 3D televisions, Scar is a groundbreaking independent film positioned to tap into this growing market.”
 
Scar stars Angela Bettis, Kirby Bliss Blanton, Ben Cotton and Christopher Titus, and was written by Zack Ford. Phase 4 early next year will release the film as a dual format combo pack, with an anaglyph 3D version and a traditional 2D version.
 
“I grew up with the wave of 3D horror films in the 1980s, and I was at the theater for every one of those movies, so when I was offered the opportunity to make an homage to the classic slasher horror films in the new digital stereoscopic 3D, I jumped at it,” Weintrob said. “It's incredible how much more visceral the horror becomes in this new generation of 3D. We literally had someone in the audience pass out at our first test screening!”

IFC Midnight Films to Hit VOD Day-and-Date With Fantastic Fest Premieres

IFC Films’ genre label IFC Midnight has partnered with Austin’s Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the United States, taking place Sept. 23-30. The movies will screen at the festival and will simultaneously be available through the movies-on-demand platform of cable systems such as those from Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable and Bright House, hitting about 40 million homes.

Films acquired through the deal include Philip Ridley's devilish thriller Heartless, starring Jim Sturgess; Abel Ferry's High Lane, about a mountain-climbing trick gone wrong; Josh Reed’s Australian horror film Primal, about a girl who becomes feral after bathing in a watering hole in the outback; and Simon Rumley’s Red, White & Blue, about a nyphomaniac girl whose past conquest comes back to haunt her. They join previously announced Fantastic Fest 2009 acquisitions for the initial IFC Midnight offering, including The Human Centipede, The Good the Bad and the Weird and Doghouse.

“Following our successful day-and-date on demand partnerships with SXSW and Sundance, which have included several genre films, a partnership with Fantastic Fest is the next logical step,” said Jonathan Sehring, president of IFC Entertainment. “Tim League (CEO of Alamo Drafthouse and co-founder of Fantastic Fest) has cultivated some of the genre's most enthusiastic fans, and Fantastic Fest is an ideal festival with which to launch these four amazing films nationwide.”

New Indie Titles: 'Sex and Lucia,' 'Human Centipede'

Title: Sex and Lucia
Genre: Foreign/Drama
Studio: Palm Pictures
Street Date: 10/12
Price/Format: $29.98 Blu-ray
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This highly erotic film won Paz Vega a Goya and international acclaim. I haven’t seen Sex and Lucia yet, but its description has always reminded me of that “Seinfeld” episode with the sexy foreign film Rochelle, Rochelle — “A young girl’s strange, erotic journey from Milan to Minsk.” The Blu-ray includes behind-the-scenes footage, cast interviews, a photo gallery, a soundtrack excerpt and more.



Title: The Human Centipede
Genre: Horror
Studio: MPI/IFC
Street date: 10/5
Prebook: 8/30
Price/Format: $24.98 DVD, $29.98 Blu-ray
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Possibly the grossest movie ever is coming to DVD and Blu-ray — a mad surgeon creates a creature of sorts by attaching people to one another via their gastric systems. It’s nominated for a Reaper Award (check out the nominations here). Bonus features include deleted scenes, behind the scenes footage, an interview with Tom Six, a documentary with Six, a casting featurette and more.

‘Troll 2’ Comes to Blu-ray

Oh no they didn’t: Troll 2 is coming to Blu-ray Oct. 5 (prebook Sept. 8) from Fox/MGM (BD/DVD combo pack $19.99, DVD $14.99).

Generally considered one of the worst movies ever made (No. 64 on IMDb’s bottom 100 movies), generating its own documentary (Best Worst Movie, directed by its own star, Michael Stephenson), it is nonetheless beloved for such lines as “they’re eating her…then they’re gonna eat me…oh my god!” (see below). The plot follows some nonsense about a family vacation to the land of Nilbog (which spells “goblin” backwards) where young Joshua (Stephenson) must save his family from man-eating goblins (don’t ask what happened to the trolls; also, this movie has nothing to do with, and is unconnected to, the original Troll).

More fun facts, courtesy of Wikipedia: The movie’s bad goblin costumes were designed by cult erotic actress Laura Gemser, and after a screening of Troll 2 in Morgan, Utah, where the movie was filmed, the director was presented with a key to the city. Celebrate 20 years of this trash classic and preorder it today, along with Best Worst Movie, which streets Nov. 16 from New Video ($19.95).

 

E1 Gets Blue Underground

Cult movie library Blue Underground, keeper of such titles as the upcoming Prowler (out July 27), Machine Gun McCain (out Aug. 24), Vigilante (due Sept. 21, all Blu-ray Discs $29.98) and Maniac (coming Oct. 26, prebook Sept. 28, two-BD set $34.98), will now have its library released by E1 Entertainment Distribution, effective June 28.

Nearly 200 titles make up the grindhouse, horror and action films in Blue Underground’s library, including such films as Final Countdown, Cannonball, Circle of Iron, Emmanuelle in America and The Crazies.

Requests for orders and returns should be directed to E1 Entertainment Distribution U.S.

“Blue Underground goes to great lengths to feature remastered transfers from original vault elements,” E1 said in a press release. “The label has developed a reputation of releasing the highest quality editions available of their films, and they have developed a broad core audience base for their releases.”

Thanks to reporter Chris Tribbey for the tip!

On a semi-related note, if you are a lover of camp films on Blu-ray, please check out Fox/MGM's recent release of Showgirls 15th Anniversary Sinsational Edition on Blu-ray Disc. My friend and fellow camp film enthusiast Brad Schelden at Amoeba Music in Los Angeles recently sat me down to experience this masterwork, and I can't say I'll ever be the same (I suddenly am overcome with the desire to try dog food ...). Check out his on the Showgirls release (you can also of Showgirls on Blu-ray at the Amoeba site — support an independent chain!).

New Indie Titles, May 27: ‘It Came From Kuchar’ and More

Title: It Came From Kuchar
Genre: Documentary
Studio: First Run
Street Date: 6/29
Price/Format: $24.95 DVD
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This documentary interweaves clips of films by notorious underground filmmaking twins George and Mike Kuchar, who helped create and inspire ‘B’-movie sleaze, with interviews by fans and followers such as John Waters, Buck Henry, Atom Egoyan, Wayne Wang, Bill Griffith, Gerard Malanga, B. Ruby Rich and Guy Maddin.



Title: Machine Gun McCain
Genre: Cult/Thriller
Studio: E1/Blue Underground
Street date: 8/24
Prebook: 7/27
Price/Format: $19.98 DVD, $29.98 Blu-ray
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No, not that McCain. This 1969 Cannes favorite stars John Cassavetes as an ex-con who stages a heist after his mob employer turns on him. The film co-stars Peter Falk, Gene Rowlands, Britt Ekland and Florinda Bolkan, and features music by Ennio Morricone.




Title: An American Journey: In Robert Frank’s Footsteps
Genre: Documentary
Studio: Kino-Lorber
Street date: 8/24
Prebook date: 7/27
Price/Format: $29.95 DVD

Filmmaker Philippe Seclier traces influential photographer Robert Frank’s trips across the United States that inspired his intimate images.


Title: A Town Called Panic
Genre: Animated
Studio: Zeitgeist
Street date: 7/20
Prebook date: 6/22
Price/Format: $29.99 DVD
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Based on a Belgian cult TV series, three plastic toys named Cowboy, Indian and Horse share a house in a village that attracts crazy events.



Title: Lights Camera Dead/F.A.R.T. the Movie
Genre: Cult/Horror
Studio: MVD
Street date: 7/27
Price/Format: $19.95 DVD/$9.95 DVD
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Nope, IndieFile is not too stuffy for this: MVD Visual and SRS Cinema are releasing two cult, er, “classics.” One is about two filmmakers who will stop at nothing to finish their zombie masterpiece. The other is about a man with two passions — television and flatulence — whose passions are about to come together in a big way. Guess which description is for which film.

IFC Bows ‘Midnight’ Label

IFC Films is launching a genre label called IFC Midnight for independent horror, sci-fi, thriller, erotic arthouse and action films. 

The label will bow four new films every month on video-on-demand, while select titles also will be released in theaters at the same time they premiere through VOD. The films also will be branded with the IFC Midnight label when they are released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc (MPI Media Group releases IFC films on disc).
 
“Many of our most successful VOD titles are those that might fall under the Midnight label — not just films that are straight up horror, erotic arthouse or genre films but also ones that shock audiences, push boundaries and stir up controversy — so officially creating IFC Midnight was the logical next step,” said president of IFC Entertainment Jonathan Sehring. “While we as a company continue to focus on a diverse range of films, this is one particular area which we are going to heavily brand and promote.”
 
IFC Midnight films will be in the same vein as past IFC films Lars Von Trier’s controversial Antichrist, Nazi zombie film Dead Snow, and erotic dramas such as The Exterminating Angels. Upcoming IFC Midnight titles include the gruesome The Human Centipede, about a mad scientist who wants to create — you guessed it — a living centipede made of people; the film has been screened theatrically and hits VOD this month. Other films will include prison drama Cell 211, directed by Daniel Monzón and recipient of eight Spanish Goya Awards, including best picture, only on VOD, starting in June; Doghouse, a British horror film screening through VOD in June; and Don’t Look Back, a thriller starring Sophie Marceau as a woman whose body morphs into that of a woman played by Monica Bellucci (I can think of worse things to happen, Sophie).
 
Films screening in July include Viking action epic Valhalla Rising and thriller Exam. French zombie flick The Horde (La Horde) and revenge film Vengeance come in August. And September will see the VOD premiere of Gaspar Noe’s (of Irreversible infamy) Enter the Void.

Luis Berdejo Introduces ‘The New Daughter’

IndieFile caught up with writer-director Luis Berdejo, writer of recent acclaimed horror film [REC], to find out about his new film, The New Daughter, starring Pan’s Labyrinth’s Ivana Baquero (read an interview with Baquero here) as the daughter of a single father (Kevin Costner) who seemingly becomes possessed when the family moves to a remote new house.

HM: How much from the original story by John Connolly was adapted?

Berdejo: The movie is pretty much the same as the short story, although it has a different ending. The script that John Travis wrote was great, and the fact that he was so open minded to allow me to personalize it (adding some little things here and there) made me feel as if the material would have been mine from the beginning.

HM: What drew you to working on this film?

Berdejo: In two words: Peter Safran, my manager. He sent me the script, I told him that I wanted to shoot it so badly, and then, I killed the other candidates, buried the corpses in a forest and made the movie.

On a personal level I love kids, the forest, animals, creatures, the story of an overwhelmed father, and the fact that I was able to work with Ivana, who is my favorite actress in the whole Milky Way. All of these were things I’ve been interested in for the longest time.

HM: Are there horror films from which you drew inspiration for the scares, the creatures and the construction of this film?

Berdejo: Not that I can recall specifically, but I’m sure that I have tons of influences in my mind from who knows where.

HM: Was casting Ivana Baquero as Kevin Costner’s daughter a way to stay connected to your Spanish roots in your work while delving into English-language film?

Berdejo: Ivana was the first person who was hired on the movie. When I was hired she was already there, and then came the Great Kevin. I guess that the fact that I knew Ivana was a fact that mattered, but this is her movie more than anybody else’s. She’s the real deal here.

HM: Have you gotten the chance to see your film on Blu-ray? What does high-definition bring out in a film like this?

Berdejo: I haven’t seen it on Blu-ray yet … but I’m sure that the high-definition will help to build the feeling of the “pristine classic look” that I wanted to create in the movie.

HM: To me this film felt like it was really about a father’s fear of his daughter’s sexuality and opposition, almost as though the monsters could have been invented in his own mind. What do you see as the heart of your film?

Berdejo: That is exactly what we had in mind the whole time. The New Daughter is the story of a change, it is told from the eyes of the woman growing inside a teenager, and from the overwhelmed father who tries to handle the situation, while the little brother is aware of everything

New Indie Titles, April 15: ‘Tokyo Sonata’ and More

Title: Tokyo Sonata
Genre: Comedy
Studio: E1
Street Date: 5/4
Price/Format: $26.98 DVD
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Kiyoshi Kurosawa isn’t known for comedies, having offered up horror films such as Pulse and Cure. But his black comedy Tokyo Sonata, which explores the dynamics of the contemporary Japanese family when its patriarch loses his job and hides that fact from his family, was strong enough to win the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. The DVD includes a making-of featurette, Cannes Festival footage and interviews with the cast and crew.


Title: California Dreamin’
Genre: Comedy
Studio: MPI/IFC
Street date: 5/4
Price/Format: $24.98 DVD
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Young director Cristian Nemescu (part of a Romanian new wave) directs this war farce, which takes place during the civil war in Yugoslavia as an American Marine platoon arrives in a town in Romania and face bureaucratic troubles, sexy young women and strange pop culture celebrations. Sadly, Nemescu passed away before his acclaimed film was released.   


Title: A Town Called Panic
Genre: Animated
Studio: Zeitgeist
Street date: 7/20
Prebook date: 6/22
Price/Format: $29.99 DVD
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A stop-motion animated film about three plastic toys named Cowboy, Indian and Horse who get into hijinks while sharing a house in a rural town. Based on “Wallace & Gromit,” the film was on the Oscar shortlist for best animated feature, among other accolades.



Title: Owl and the Sparrow
Genre: Drama
Studio: Film Movement
Street date: 5/4
Prebook: 4/27
Price/Format: $27.98 DVD
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This Vietnamese film follows a 10-year-old flees the bamboo factory at which she works and travels to Saigon, where she struggles to survive and avoid authorities. The film has received praise from LA Weekly, The Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Examiner.

Title: The Prowler
Genre: Horror
Studio: Blue Underground
Street date: 7/27
Prebook: 6/29
Price/Format: $29.98 Blu-ray

Props to Blue Underground for continuing to release cult films on Blu-ray, such as this ’80s “body count” thriller in which a young couple is murdered on the night of their graduation dance — 30 years later the dance is held again, and the killing returns.