10. GUN CRAZY 1949 (WARNER ARCHIVE) BLU-RAY...perhaps the greatest film noir ever made finally got an excellent Blu-ray release and looks as good as ever. The disc also includes a documentary on film noir. No noir fan should be without this masterpiece of film making. Two lovers get caught up in a web of murder and robbery, and that is not even the tip of the iceberg in this film. Peggy Cummins is magnificent in her role as the psychotic Annie Laurie Starr.
9. SOLE SURVIVOR 1984 (CODE RED) BLU-RAY...This is an all time favorite film and I was very happy it got a release back on Blu-ray. Thom Eberhardt directed this top quality horror film about a young woman who is the only survivor of a plane crash and then begins to see dead people coming after her. Anita Skinner is perfect in the lead role. A must for horror fans.
8. PETS 1976 (VINEGAR SYNDROME) BLU-RAY...This was a surprise Blu-ray announcement over the holidays of 2017. Gorgeous Candice Railson stars as a young woman who falls prey to an eccentric rich man who keeps a collection of "pets" for his private use. A very bizarre and unusual film that I love and was happy to see get a release.
7. THE VOLCANO MONSTER 1962 (CREEPY CLASSICS)...Ultra rare Mexican horror film about a mysterious yeti monster living in a cave. It is able to contact women by telepathy and make them do it's bidding. The film is in Spanish with no subtitles, but who needs them. It's always fun as hell to find such rare little gems floating around. One of my all time favorites.
6. THE BLOODTHIRSTY TRILOGY 1970-1972 (ARROW) BLU-RAY...This is an excellent set of three films..."The Vampire Doll", "Lake Of Dracula" and "Evil Of Dracula". Finally a chance to see all of the beautifully made Japanese vampire movies was made available by Arrow. All of the prints are exceptional quality and subtitled in English. Another set I recommend for all horror fans. The highest rated set of the entire year.
5. MONSTROSITY 1963 (MOTH) BLU-RAY...AKA The Atomic Brain this is the long awaited remaster of this classic little gem and yes, it was worth the wait no matter what the "fan boys" said on other boards. Brought to us in an incredible and beautiful edition. An elderly woman hires a mad scientist to transplant her brain into a younger body. You simply must check this out if you haven't already.
4. VAMPIRE AND THE BALLERINA 1962 (SHOUT FACTORY) BLU-RAY...One of my all time favorite films has a troupe of dancers stranded in a castle and being stalked by an ugly vampire and his just as ugly lover. Italian film making at it's finest. Shout even included the 10 minute digest version of the film from super 8 film that I actually owned many, many years ago.
3. ZOMBIE 1979 (BLUE UNDERGROUND) BLU-RAY...Stunning 4K transfer of this Lucio Fulci all time classic. Blue Underground has released this and it looks better than it ever did. This is the definitive release. The 3 disc set has the movie, a disc with nothing but extras and interviews and the 3rd disc is the movie soundtrack CD. Who could ever ask for more.
2. FANGS OF THE LIVING DEAD 1968 (SHOUT FACTORY) BLU-RAY...A favorite film from my youth was released on Blu-ray in mid 2018 and it even ran 23 minutes or so longer than any version I had ever seen before. This is also known, as the title card on the movie says, Malenka. Anita Ekberg is a young woman who inherits a castle haunted by vampires. Amando De Ossorio directed this gem full of gothic images, sexy women and just downright bizarre set pieces. This was a must have.
And now all of this brings us to my number one release of the year, and it really should be no surprise to anyone who knows what I like. This release came in February of 2018 and I ordered it a full 3 months before the date and waited for the it to get here. Ok, the best release of the year 2018 is.....
1. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 1968 (CRITERION) BLU-RAY...The greatest film ever made of any genre get a Criterion treatment and it looks as good as it ever will. This film has been available for years in PD versions that range for pure crap to pretty good, but this puts every one of them to shame as it is a beautiful 4K restoration in both picture and sound. There are tons of extras on the disc including a version called "Night Of Anubis" which does have a few new scenes in it. I would probably call this the Number 1 release in my lifetime as it is something I have always wanted to happen with this film. A no brainer on if you should own this or not.
And there you have it....the top releases of 2018 according to me. Now I wait and see what 2019 has to bring to the ever changing world of Blu-ray and DVD. Thanks for sticking with this over the last 7 weeks and thanks for looking and leaving comments. It's always appreciated.
No comments:
Post a Comment