New to View: Sept. 30
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Sept. 30, unless otherwise noted:
Dogtooth (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 2009, Kino Lorber
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos makes movies in his own singular style, be it “The Lobster,” “The Favourite” or “Poor Things.”
“Dogtooth” follows a Greek couple who, to protect their children from the corrupting influences of the outside world, transforms their home into a gated compound of cultural withdrawal and strict rules of behavior.
Children, however, grow and mature — and ultimately lose their innocence. When the father brings home a young woman to satisfy his son’s sexual urges, the family’s engineered “reality” begins to collapse. The consequences, of course, are shattering.
“Dogtooth” offers piercing social satire combined with sequences of shocking violence. It is an unflinching movie about delusion, freedom, toxic masculinity and creepiness.
The film earned a 93 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition 2.35:1 widescreen picture; Greek 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; Greek 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include, on the 4K UHD disc, two commentaries — one with the movie’s stars Angeliki Papoulia and Christos Passalis, and the other with film critic Adam Nayman; on the Blu-ray disc, extras include deleted scenes, a 2019 conversation between Lanthimos and Kent Jones during a Film at Lincoln Center event, a 2009 interview with Lanthimos and a booklet interview with Lanthimos.
Isle of Dogs: Combo Edition (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 2018, The Criterion Collection
Rated: PG-13, thematic elements, violent images
The lowdown: “Isle of Dogs” is another quirky Wes Anderson project; a stop-motion animated film set in a futuristic Japan in which dogs have been banished from the nation.
It’s a movie you can embrace and admire, but one in which it is difficult to have any emotional involvement.
Your attention is mostly fixated on the way writer-director Anderson tells his story and handles his characters rather than the plot itself.
The movie, told in English and Japanese, sometimes with subtitles and sometimes without, is one dog lovers can stroke.
One of the movie’s major subtext’s is examining the gullibility of people and how easily they can be swayed — even against their better instincts.
The movie is more an exposition of Anderson’s experimentation and passion with film rather than a fully realized project.
“Isle of Dogs” offers wit and charm, but it also feels emotionally distant and cold.
One of the movie’s best components is the score by recent Academy Award-winner Alexandre Desplat, which incorporates Japanese instrumentation and percussion to help advance the story.
At Rotten Tomatoes, the movie garnered a 90 percent fresh rating.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 2.40:1 widescreen picture; English and Japanese 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.40:1 widescreen picture; English and Japanese 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus features include a commentary track with Anderson and actor Jeff Goldblum; storyboard animatic; a making of featurette; a visual essay about the comedy in the movie; a behind-the-scenes look at actor F. Murray Abraham touring the set; animation tests, visual-effects breakdowns and behind-the-scenes and time-lapse footage; and an essay about the movie.
Airport (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1970, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: G
The lowdown: This adaptation of Arthur Hailey’s best-selling novel not only spawned three sequels but gave birth to the all-star cast disaster movie subgenre, which included “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Earthquake” and “The Towering Inferno.
“Airport’s” power-house cast includes Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seberg, Jacqueline Bissett, George Kennedy, Helen Hayes (who won a supporting actress Oscar for her portrayal of a stowaway passenger), Van Heflin, Maureen Stapleton, Lloyd Nolan, Barry Nelson, Dana Wynter and Barbara Hale.
Lancaster’s Mel Bakersfield is the manager of the busy airport, who must not only contend with a blizzard, but with personal issues as well. Martin is pilot Vernon Demerest, who must keep troubled passenger D.O. Guerrero (Heflin) from exploding a bomb that will bring down the aircraft.
The movie is cheesy fun offering suspense, action, drama, romance and some comedy.
“Airport” was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including best picture and best screenplay. It basically set the template for the movies which followed it.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: The major extra is a commentary track with film historian-writer Julie Kirgo and author-screenwriter C. Courtney Joyner.
Airport 1975 (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1974, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: PG, disaster violence, language
The lowdown: The first of “Airport’s” three sequels is a downgrade from its predecessor.
Charlton Heston and Karen Black head another all-star cast in this feature centering on a mid-air collision between a 747 and a private plane. The cockpit crew of the 747 is incapacitated causing chief stewardess Nancy Pryor (Black) — they were not yet called flight attendants — to act as the blinded pilot’s hands and eyes to fly the jetliner.
Heston is retired test pilot and Alan Murdock, who also is Pryor’s boyfriend, who helps talk her through piloting the plane.
George Kennedy returns as Joe Patroni, whose character will also appear in the other two sequels. The rest of the cast includes Helen Reddy, Sid Caesar, Susan Clark, Gloria Swanson (playing herself), Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Linda Blair, Dana Andrews, Myrna Loy, Ed Nelson, Roy Thinnes and Nancy Olson.
The reviews were not as kind as they were for “Airport,” which is par for the course for the majority of sequels. The movie’s aerial stunts mostly compensate for its formulaic script and cardboard characters.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track with film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson is the main bonus component.
Airport ’77 (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1977, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: PG, disaster peril, language
The lowdown: The danger shifts from the sky to under the sea in this second sequel in this disaster-movie franchise.
A luxurious, privately-owned 747 jumbo jet with a cargo of priceless art treasures and VIPs is hijacked, crashes in the Bermuda Triangle and sinks.
A mustached Jack Lemmon heads the cast as Gallagher, the stalwart pilot. The big names here include Lee Grant, Brenda Vaccaro, Joseph Cotton, Olivia De Havilland, Darren McGavin, Christopher Lee, James Stewart and, of course, George Kennedy.
Co-pilot Robert Foxworth is the leader of the thieves who want the artwork but his inept flying in fog causes the plane to crash. Luckly, the water is shallow so the aircraft is not crushed.
It’s a race against time and some passengers don’t make it, while others are saved.
This sequel is better than its predecessor, but still a bit outlandish.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by film historian-writer Julie Kirgo and writer-filmmaker Peter Hankoff is the main extra.
The Concorde: Airport ’79 (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1979, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: PG, danger, language
The lowdown: The final and weakest move in the “Airport” franchise offers an international flair as a Moscow-bound Concorde is targeted by a traitorous arms smuggler.
Robert Wagner plays the villain, Kevin Harrison, in this outing. Susan Blakely is Maggie Whelan, Harrison’s former girlfriend, and his target. She is a jet-setting TV reporter who learns of his weapon sales to communist countries. Hey, the Cold War was still a thing back then.
Harrison reprograms an attack drone test to target the Concorde to kill Whelan and presumably everyone else on board.
The star-filled cast includes Alain Delon and George Kennedy as the Concorde’s pilots as well as Sylvia Kristel, Eddie Albert, Bibi Andersson, Charo, John Davidson, Martha Raye, Cicely Tyson, Jimmie Walker, David Warner, Mercedes McCambridge, Andrea Marcovicci, Avery Schreiber and Sybil Danning.
After this feature, the franchise was finally grounded because the movie did not make enough money to sustain any future films.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: The main extra is a commentary track by film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson.
Raw Meat (Death Line) (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1972, Blue Underground
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Donald Pleasance stars as Scotland Yard Inspector Calhoun who, while investigating the disappearance of a prominent politician and a beautiful young woman inside a London subway station, makes a horrifying discovery.
It seems a group of 19th-century tunnel workers not only survived a cave-in, but they lived for years in a secret underground enclave by consuming the flesh of their own dead.
Now, the lone descendant of this gruesome tribe has surfaced and is skulking the streets for fresh victims — and a new mate.
Christopher Lee, Norman Rossington, David Ladd and Sharon Gurney costar. The film received a 92 percent fresh rating with 12 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos, 5.1 and 1.0 DTS-HD Master Audio and French 1.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos, 5.1 and 1.0 DTS-HD Master Audio and French 1.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental materials include a commentary track with director Gary Sherman, producer Paul Maslansky and assistant director Lewis More O’Ferrall and a second commentary with film historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth on both discs; and, on the Blu-ray disc, interviews with Sherman, executive producers Jay Kanter and Alan Ladd Jr., actors David Ladd and Hugh Armstrong and Maslansky.
The Good, the Bad, The Weird: Limited Edition (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 2008, Arrow Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A Korean action film set in 1930s Manchuria, where three gun-toting Koreans — two outlaws and a bounty hunter — converge on a train with different objectives.
But after an explosive altercation, they leave with one goal — to track down a map leading to a fabulous treasure.
Bounty hunter Park Dowon (Jung Woo-sung) is the “good,” who is chasing “bad” ruthless bandit Park Chang-yi (Lee Byung-hun), who is rumored to be the infamous “Finger Cutter.”
Wily thief Yoon Tae-goo (Song Kang-ho) is the “weird,” a man on the hunt for anything he can get his hands on.
Back-stabbing, betrayals and double crosses as well as finger cuttings and flying bullets permeate the action as the trio searches for untold wealth.
This Manchurian Western was the biggest and most ambitious production ever undertaken in Korea.
The set features the international and Korean versions of the movie.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; Korean 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras on the 4K disc include a commentary track with film critic James Marsh and film critic-producer Pierre Conran, a second commentary on the international cut with director Kim Jee-won and actors Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun and Jung Woo-sung and a third, archival, commentary on the Korean version with Kim Jee-won, cinematographer Lee Mogae, lighting director Oh Seung-chul and art director Cho Hwa-sung and an introduction to the movie by the director. The Blu-ray disc features interviews with Kim Jee-won and martial arts coordinator Jung Doo-hong and making of featurettes.
Night of the Living Dead: Steelbook (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + digital)
Release date: Sept. 23
Details: 1990, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: R, Unrated, graphic violence, language
The lowdown: Special effects makeup guru Tom Savini directed this color remake of George A. Romero’s original low-budget, black-and-white nightmarish action feature.
The movie opens with a brother and sister visiting the family cemetery, where they are attacked without warning. The sister, Barbara, flees, leaving her bloodied and unconscious brother behind, while she seeks refuge in a nearby farmhouse.
Soon, seven scared and desperate people are within, hoping to survive the onslaught as darkness arrives. Who will survive the attack of these mindless cannibals.
The set features the R-rated theatrical and unrated uncensored versions of the movie on both discs.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos (7.1 Dolby TrueHD compatible), 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2-Channel surround DTS-HD Master Audio (theatrical version only); English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2-Channel surround DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH, English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras on both discs include an archival commentary track with Savini and a commentary on the uncensored version with Savini. The Blu-ray disc features a making of featurette, featurettes with Savini, actors Patricia Tallman and Bill Moseley, special makeup effects supervisors John Vulch and Everett Burell; interviews with actors William Butler, Moseley, McKee Anderson, Heather Mazur, producers John Russo and Russell Streiner, editor Tom Dubensky and zombie performers Greg Funk and Dyrk Ashton.
“Dan Curtis’ Late-Night Mysteries” (Blu-ray)
Details: 1974, Kino Lorber-Kino Cult #36
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Dan Curtis had a big influence on television horror in the late 1960s and 1970s, creating “Dark Shadows” and “The Night Stalker,” among other shows.
This set contains four made-for-TV movies produced by Curtis — “Shadow of Fear,” “The Invasion of Carol Enders,” “Come Die with Me” and “Nightmare at 43 Hillcrest.”
Claude Akins stars as a disgraced police officer hired to investigate crimes surrounding a psychologically troubled housewife in “Shadow of Fear.”
The spirit of a car crash victim is reincarnated into the body of another patient, played by Meredith Baxter, in “The Invasion of Carol Enders.”
“Come Die with Me” is a cat-and-mouse game between George Maharis’ high-handed playboy and the housekeeper, played by Eileen Brennan, who tries to blackmail him.
A wholesome, normal family experiences a nightmarish miscarriage of justice when they are accused of drug trafficking in “Nightmare on 43 Hillcrest.”
All of these movies were originally shot on videotape, before being adapted for this Blu-ray.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.33:1 full-screen picture; English DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include an introduction to the movies by Jeff Thompson, author of “House of Dan Curtis: The Television Mysteries of the Dark Shadows Auteur”; a commentary on “Shadow of Fear” by Amanda Reyes, author of “Are You in the House Alone? A TV Movie Compendium 1964-1999”; a commentary on “The Invasion of Carol Enders” by television historian Scott Skelton; a “Come Die with Me” commentary by author-podcaster Don Budnik and film historian Robert Kelly; and a commentary on “Nightmare on 43 Hillcrest” by Reyes and Heidi Honeycutt, author of “I Spit on Your Celluloid: The History of Women Directing Horror Movies.”
Creepshow 2: Limited Edition (4K Ultra HD)
Details: 1987, Arrow Video
Rated: R, violence, language
The lowdown: George A. Romero and Stephen King team up for a sequel that features a trio of terrifying tales based on King stories.
“Big Chief Wood’nhead” is a story of retribution in the aftermath of the looting of a local hardware store, in which the owners, played by George Kennedy and Dorothy Lamour, are killed. The young hoodlums responsible for the crime and hunted by the wooden Indian who stands outside the store.
“The Raft” centers on four college students — Deke, Laverne, Randy and Rachel — who visit a desolate lake for some fun and relaxation. After they swim out to a raft, they notice a large, black, blob-like creature that resembles an oil slick floating on the surface of the water.
As Rachel leans over the raft to touch the creature, it grabs her, pulls her into the lake and digests her.
Soon, all four are devoured by the thingy, not having noticed the “No Swimming” sign posted nearby.
Lois Chiles stars as Annie Lansing, an adulterous businesswoman, in “The Hitch-Hiker.” Racing home after being with her lover, she loses control of her car and runs down a hitchhiker. Seeing no one around, she flees the scene, not knowing that witnesses saw what happened and reported it to the police.
Miles away, Lansing considers turning herself in but decides against it. Soon she is bedeviled by the dead hitchhiker, who continually tells her, “Thanks for the ride, lady.”
The dead man achieves his retribution as Lansing gets her just desserts.
Technical aspects: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, 2.0 LPCM monaural and LPCM monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a commentary track with director Michael Gornick; interview with Romero, makeup artist-actor Tom Savini and actors Daniel Beer and Tom Wright; an archival featurette about the movie’s special effects; a behind-the-scenes footage featurette; a tribute to special effects mentor Rick Baker; and a booklet.
The .44 Specialist (Blu-ray)
Details: 1976, Kino Lorber-RaroVideo
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: An Italian feature in which police inspector Mark Patti (Franco Gasparri) is assigned to infiltrate a group of radicals who are working in tandem with Altman (John Saxon), a devious U.S. agent.
Patti joins the terrorist circle of Paul and Olga and, soon after, chaos erupts.
The movie, the third featuring Patti, is heavy on violence, including a hotel massacre and the hijacking of a passenger train, as well as betrayal and political double dealings.
Though the movie features an Italian audio track, one of the bonus options is an alternate English track.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Italian 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: A commentary track by film historian Rachael Nisbet is the main bonus component.
DeepStar Six (Blu-ray)
Details: 1989, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, violence, language
The lowdown: An underwater sci-fi thriller about the crew of DeepStar Six, is exploring a forbidding and impenetrable world of darkness and unimaginable pressure.
Their mission is to establish a top-secret Navy base on the ocean floor. But the crew is about to discover something terrifying — they are not wanted and the creature at the bottom of the ocean begins to pick them off one at a time.
The crew must do everything it can to escape — and survive.
The cast of the movie, directed by Sean S. Cunningham, includes Taurean Blacque, Nancy Everhard, Greg Evigan, Miguel Ferrer, Matt McCoy, Nia Peeples, Cindy Pickett and Marius Weyers.
The film is rather formulaic with nothing to really make it stand out.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Supplemental materials include three commentary tracks — one by James G. Chandler and Ash Hamilton of HorrorFix.com, a second by Cunningham and visual effects supervisor James Isaac and a third by screenwriters Lewis Abernathy and Geof Miller; isolated score selections and an audio interview with composer Harry Manfredini; interviews with creature effects and special make-up designer Mark Shostrom, creature supervisor Greg Nictero and creature artist Robert Kurtzman; interviews with Evigan, Everhard and stunt coordinator Kane Hodder; as well as vintage interview clips and behind-the-scenes footage.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
The .44 Specialist (Kino Film Collection)
Affinity (Well Go USA Entertainment)
The Best of Aliens Uncovered: Part 1 (Breaking Glass Pictures)
Chad Powers: Episodes 1 & 2 (Hulu)
Foe (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
Looking Through Water (Good Deed Entertainment)
The Medium (Kino Film Collection)
Only Murders in the Building: Season 5, Episode 6 (Hulu)
Suspended Time (Music Box Films)
The Toxic Avenger (Cineverse)
OCT. 1
Killer of Sheep (Kino Film Collection)
Lips of Blood (Kino Film Collection)
The Morning Show: Season 4, Episode 3 (Apple TV+)
Play Dirty (Prime Video)
Platonic: Season 2, Episode 10 (Apple TV+)
Slow Horses: Season 5, Episode 2 (Apple TV+)
Sunday at Il Posto Accanto (Apple TV+)
Tempest: Episodes 8 & 9 (Hulu)
The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox: Episode 8 (Hulu)
OCT. 2
Reasonable Doubt: Season 3, Episode 4 (Hulu)
OCT. 3
Chaperone (1919 Films-Kumau Productions)
Good Boy (Shudder)
The Lost Bus (Apple TV+)
Monster: The Ed Gein Story (Netflix)
The Queen of My Dreams (Willa-Production of Culture)
The Savant: Episode 3 (Apple TV+)
Scurry (Signature Entertainment)
She Loved Blossoms More (Dark Sky Films)
Shell (Republic Pictures-Paramount Pictures)
The Sisters Grimm (Apple TV+)
Stella (Film Movement)
Steve (Netflix)
V/H/S/ Halloween (Shudder)
I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on X @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.