Pop Culture Beast: Blu-ray Roundup

It's October and that means Halloween is coming. It's the perfect time to catch up on some scary movies right? We're going to do a few round-ups dedicated to our favorite genre: Horror!

First up, Fox and MGM have recently released a few catalog horror flicks that might be just what the doctor ordered this Halloween.

Click the Rawr! to see what they're offering up!

It's a mixed bag in terms of quality, with two of the offerings being just okay. Let's start with those and end with the best shall we?

I hope you aren't afraid of inbred cannibals because we're starting with the first two chapters of horror franchise Wrong Turn.

Wrong Turn
Special Features: Commentary by Director Rob Schmidt and stars Desmond Harrington and Eliza Dushku, Deleted Scenes, The Making of Wrong Turn, Eliza Dushku: Babe in the Woods, Stan Winston, & Fresh Meat: The Wounds of Wrong Turn featurettes, Theatrical trailers.

Wrong Turn 2: Dead End
Special Features: More Blood, More Guts: The Making of Wrong Turn 2, Making Gore Look Good, & On Location with P-Nut Featurettes, Cast & Crew Audio Commentary

These aren't great movies by any means but that doesn't mean they aren't fun to watch. I am a sucker for crazy hill people movies so I may be a biased. There are some good jump scares in these films and they make for a decent watch. I wouldn't call them the scariest movies but they're gruesome enough to be worth it for those who enjoy the gore factors.

Both films look great on Blu-ray so you'll get optimum blood viewing.

Keep in mind, these are about as midnight movie as you can get. They're fun watches but they are not cinematic bliss.

Fans of this series will be glad to know that Wrong Turn 3: Left For Dead is coming out this month as well (we'll have a review for that closer to Halloween), October 20, to be exact.

Next up, is probably the best Stephen King adaptation since Stand By Me or The Shawshank Redemption.

Misery
Special Features: 2 disc set. Disc One Blu-ray: Full-Length Feature Film in 1080p High Definition, Lossless Audio, Smart Menu Technology. Disc Two DVD: Commentaries from Director Rob Reiner and Screenwriter William Goldman and seven featurettes that cover topics ranging from Anti-stalking laws to music from the film, and more.

Would you believe I didn't know that Rob Reiner directed this movie until I sat and watched it? Talk about an odd choice for director. He did an admirable job though. The real star here of course is Kathy Bates, who won an Oscar for her part as lunatic book fan Annie Wilkes.

It seems odd that there are no features on the blu-ray for this disc. All of the features are on the second DVD disc. They're mildly interesting but nothing really stands out. It does look fantastic, I'll give it that much. It's better than I remembered it being also.

That hobbling scene is still cringe inducing.

Psycho fans not your thing? How about killer dolls?

Child's Play
Special Features: 2 disc set Blu-ray/DVD. Audio Commentaries with Alex Vincent, Catherine Hicks, and Chucky designer Kevin Yagher, as well as Producer David Kirschner and screenwriter Don Mancini, Scene specific Chucky commentaries, six featurettes including the vintage Introducing Chucky: The Making of Child's Play, trailer, and still photos.

Being as I grew up mostly in the 80's I am pretty loyal to the various franchises that began in that decade. The Child's Play series was one of my favorites. There was something about that doll that I loved watching. It's great to revisit the original, and second best in the series (the best being Bride of Chucky).

Chucky gets treated well with this release featuring a ton of special features. Sure it's mainly featurettes but it does give a lot of info about the film. The picture looks great, it's not perfect, but it's a step above the previous releases.

I can't wait for the rest of the series to hit Blu-ray, probably just in time for the remake that's in the works.

Lastly, but certainly not leastly, we get the last set featured in this round up. It includes the #1 villain on the AFI 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains list.

The Hannibal Lecter Collection:Manhunter, Silence of the Lambs, & Hannibal
Special features: NONE

Hannibal Lecter certainly is one of the most famous movie villains of all time and this set features his first three appearances on film. We get Manhunter, featuring Brian Cox as Hannibal and directed by Michael Mann, Johnathon Demme's classic and brilliant Silence of the Lambs, and the less than grand Hannibal from Ridley Scott.

Missing from this set are Red Dragon, which is based from the novel of the same name that also served as the inspiration for Manhunter, and Hannibal Rising.

Considering this set is completely devoid of special features, it would have been nice to get a complete set of the films. Instead, we have the first three. One of which is good, one brilliant and the last lame.

Still though, Silence of the Lambs alone make this the best option here and getting the other two films is just bonus. The set goes for around $30 so you're getting them for about 10 bucks each.

If you want any supplemental materials for these movies, this isn't the place to look.

Wrong Turn, Wrong Turn 2: Dead End, Misery, Child's Play, and The Hannibal Lecter Collection are in stores now.