New to View: Oct. 14
By Bob Bloom
The following titles are being released on Tuesday, Oct. 14, unless otherwise noted:
The Fantastic Four: First Steps (Blu-ray + digital)
Details: 2025, Buena Vista-Disney Home Entertainment-Marvel Studios
Rated: PG-13, action, violence, language
The lowdown: After several failed attempts of bringing Marvel’s Fantastic Four to the screen, this latest iteration finally seems to have found the right formula.
The film is set in a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, as the Fantastic Four — Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm aka Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm aka Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm aka The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) are introduced to a new generation of superhero fans.
Family is the underlying foundation of the movie, which finds the Fantastic Four defending Earth from an insatiable space god Galactus and his herald, the enigmatic Silver Surfer.
Galactus makes it personal when, to save the planet, he demands a high price from our heroes.
The movie earned an 86 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, 2.0 Dolby digital descriptive audio and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby digital; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus options include featurettes on the Fantastic Four family and the retro-futuristic aesthetic; an exploration about bringing the characters from page to screen; a commentary track with director Matt Shakman and production designer Kasra Farahani; a gag reel; and deleted scenes.
Eyes Without a Face: Combo Edition (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1960, The Criterion Collection
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Haunting and, at times, poetic are the words that come to mind when discussing this French horror film about a plastic surgeon, wracked with guilt, who wants to perform a face transplant on his daughter, who was disfigured in a car crash.
Director Georges Franju created an atmosphere drenched in quietness and heavy on guilt.
Dr. Génessier (Pierre Brasseur) is a brilliant surgeon obsessed with restoring his the face of his daughter Christiane (Edith. Scob.) To do so, his assistant, Louise (Alida Valle), kidnaps young women. The surgeon than removes the skin from their faces to graft onto the face of Christiane.
None of the grafts are successful, forcing Louise to lure more women to Génessier’s clinic.
In time, the police become suspicious and Christiane grows disgusted with her father’s experiments. She frees one of her father’s subjects, kills Louise and walks out of the clinic into the nearby woods.
The movie, which on its initial release received mixed reviews, has grown in stature and popularity, earning an impressive 97 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; French LPCM monaural; English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; French LPCM monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include “Blood of the Beasts,” a 1949 documentary by Franju about the slaughterhouses in Paris; archival interviews with Franju; an interview with Scob; excerpts from a 1985 documentary about screenwriters Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac; and essays about the movie.
“Hollywood Legends of Horror Collection” (Blu-ray)
Details: 1932-39, Warner Archive Collection-Allied Vaughn
Rated: Not rated, G (“The Mask of Fu Manchu,” “Mark of the Vampire”)
The lowdown: In the 1930s most horror movies were released by either Universal Pictures or one of a plethora of low-budget independent studios or filmmakers.
It was rare for major, prestige studios such as MGM or Warner Bros. to venture into the genre, but when seeing popularity of horror films, they usually held their noses and dived in.
This six-disc set features a half dozen of these features — four produced by MGM and two by Warner Bros.
The movies included are: “Doctor X” (1932), “The Mask of Fu Manchu” (1932), “Mad Love” (1935), “Mark of the Vampire” (1935), “The Devil Doll” (1936) and “The Return of Doctor X” (1939).
“Doctor X” and “The Return of Doctor X” are the two Warner Bros. offerings. Both are set in big-city venues with wise-cracking reporters, hard-nosed cops and strange goings-on at Doctor Xavier medical facility.
The researchers are played by Lionel Atwill as Xavier, Preston Foster, John Wray, Harry Beresford and Arthur Edmund Carewe, all of whom look — and act, at times — suspiciously.
The movie involves “synthetic flesh,” cannibalism and murders committed by a fiend known as the Moon Killer.
The cast also includes Lee Tracy as the reporter and Fay Wray as Dr. Xavier’s daughter. Michael Curtiz was behind the camera
“Doctor X” was filmed in Technicolor, but black-and-white prints also were offered to theaters. The color version was believed lost until a print was found in the personal collection of former Warner Bros. studio head Jack L. Warner after his death.
“The Return of Doctor X” is not a sequel, but more of murder mystery in which the victims are drained of their rare Type One blood type.
Wayne Morris plays the reporter investigating the killings with the help of a doctor friend, played by Dennis Morgan. The cast also includes John Litel as a famed hematologist and Humphrey Bogart, complete with a streak of white hair, as his strange assistant.
Boris Karloff stars as Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu in “The Mask of Fu Manchu.” Fu Manchu is seeking the tomb of Genghis Khan to retrieve the Khan’s sword and mask to pass himself off as the reincarnation of the legendary conqueror to arouse the people of Asia to rise up and wipe out the “white race.”
The movie, which features Myrna Loy as Fu Manchu’s daughter, Lewis Stone as Sir Denis Nayland Smith as well as Charles Starrett, Jean Hersholt, Lawrence Grant and David Torrence.
The movie is very racist, with many Oriental stereotypes and derogatory anti-Oriental dialogue.
Peter Lorre takes center stage in “Mad Love,” an adaptation of the novel “The Hands of Orlac.” Lorre is Doctor Gogol who is obsessed with Frances Drake’s Yvonne Orlac, an actress in the “Théâtre des Horreurs,” married to famed concert pianist Stephen Orlac, played by Colin Clive.
Orlac’s hands are mutilated in a train crash and the desperate Yvonne takes him to Gogol who agrees to reconstruct the pianist’s hands. He uses those of an executed knife-throwing murderer in the transplant.
Soon, a few people are killed by thrown knives, with Gogol trying to drive Orlac mad by telling him his new hands are those of the knife-throwing killer.
The conclusion finds Gogol getting his just desserts with the Orlacs embracing.
Lorre’s creepy performance is the highlight of the movie.
Bela Lugosi stars in “Mark of the Vampire,” directed by Tod Browning, who directed Lugosi in “Dracula.” Here, supported by Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan, Lionel Atwill and Jean Hersholt, he plays another vampire — or so we are led to believe.
The entire vampire plot is a subterfuge to solve a murder and unmask the true culprit.
Barrymore returns in “The Devil-Doll,” also directed by Browning. Here he portrays Paul Lavond, wrongly convicted of robbing a bank and killing a guard. Sent to Devil’s Island, he shares a cell with Marcel, a French scientist who, worried about overpopulation, creates a formula to shrink humans.
After 17 years, the two escape, but the scientist dies soon afterwards. Lavond decides to use the formula in a scheme to exact revenge on those who framed him for the robbery and killing. He returns to Paris, disguising himself as an old woman who sells lifelike dolls.
The cast also includes Maureen O’Sullivan as Lavond’s daughter, Henry B. Walthall as Marcel as well as Frank Lawton, Rafaela Ottiano, Lucy Beaumont, Robert Greig, Pedro de Cordoba and Arthur Hohl.
This is a fun set filled with old-fashioned chills and thrills. It can be ordered at www.moviezyng.com or other online sellers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.37:1 (16×9 enhanced) full-screen picture with side mattes; English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural; English SDH subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include commentary tracks and vintage 1930s shorts and cartoons.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: 50th Anniversary Collectible Steelbook (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + digital)
Release date: Oct. 7
Details: 1975, Buena Vista-Disney-Fox
Rated: R, language, sexual content, nudity, violence
The lowdown: Has it been 50 years since people began doing the Time Warp?
I guess it is true that time flies when you are having fun. And this audience-participation spoof of the mad scientist-horror genre offers electric jolts of laughs and enjoyment.
Barry Bostwick and future Academy Award-winner Susan Sarandon star as Brad and Janet, a naïve, newly-engaged couple whose car breaks down on a dark, stormy and rainy night.
They find shelter in the creepy castle of Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry), an alien transvestite from the planet of Transylvania, who is creating a living muscle man named Rocky.
Brad and Janet are welcome and are tricked into participating in the mad doctor’s weird antics.
The plot is secondary to the audience participation. It is best to watch “Rocky Horror” with a crowd so you all can sing along with such songs as “Dammit, Janet,” “The Time Warp” and “Sweet Transvestite.”
The cast also includes Richard O’Brien as Riff Raff, Patricia Quinn as Magenta, Meat Loaf as Eddie and Charles Gray as the criminologist.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos, 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio monaural and 2.0 Dolby digital descriptive audio track; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, 2.0 Dolby digital monaural and audio descriptive track; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras on the 4K Ultra HD disc include a sing-along with on-screen lyrics, a trivia track, a vintage callback track, a song selection option and a commentary track with O’Brien and Quinn. The Blu-ray disc features an alternate version with a black-and-white opening, a deleted song and alternate takes, a “Rocky Horror” double feature video show, a “Time Warp” music video and a Beacon Theater featurette.
Daiei Gothic: Japanese Ghost Stories Vol. 2 (Blu-ray)
Details: 1960-70, Radiance Films
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Two masters of the supernatural genre, Tokuzo Tanaka and Kimlyoshi Yasuda, direct these three ghost stories to life.
In “The Demon of Mount Oe,” a group of warriors is sent to kill a demon who steals women from the imperial city of Kyoto. On the way, the soldiers face a satanic bull, a giant spider and a fiendish witch.
The closer they come to their goal, the more they realize that the demon, which they have been ordered to kill, is far more human than they are led to believe.
A blind monk is killed in a cowardly manner in “The Haunted Castle.” The samurai lord who did the deed then orders that the monk’s sister become his concubine.
Rather than submit, she commits suicide and transfers her grudge to a black cat, who then assumes the human form of one of the lord’s ladies-in-waiting. She then begins to wreak havoc until the lord’s sly right-hand man and a young swordsman team up to solve the mystery and stop the supernatural threat.
“The Ghost of Kasane Swamp” finds a samurai’s wife trying to repay her husband’s debt with her body. She is caught in bed with the money lender by the husband who kills them both and dumps their bodies into a nearby swamp.
Later, the money lender and samurai’s children discover a curse has been passed to them as they each try to recover the money.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 2.35:1 widescreen picture; Japanese LPCM monaural; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include an 80-page book with writings about the movie and two original ghost stories; an interview and video essay with “The Demon of Mount Oe”; an interview and visual essay with “The Haunted Castle”; and an interview and select-scene commentary with “The Ghost of Kasane Swamp.”
Nobody 2 (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + digital)
Release date: Oct. 7
Details: 2025, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated: R, graphic, bloody violence, language
The lowdown: Bob Odenkirk’s Hutch can’t catch a break. In his initial appearance, Hutch battled — and killed — an army of Russian mobsters.
After resettling with his family, Hutch decides it is time they all take a vacation.
The family goes to what they believe is a quiet tourist town for some fun and sun, but a minor incident with some local bullies puts Hutch and the family in the sites of an unhinged, blood-thirsty crime boss, played by Sharon Stone.
The movie simply reworks what worked best in the original — the violent encounters and the various tools Hutch put to lethal use.
Also returning are Connie Nielson as Hutch’s wife, Becca; RZA as his brother, Harry, and Christopher Lloyd as their father, David. The cast also includes Colin Hanks, John Ortiz and Michael Ironside.
The sequel garnered a 78 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos and French and Spanish 7.1 Dolby digital plus; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 2.39:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby Atmos, 2.0 DVS and French and Spanish 7.1 Dolby digital plus; English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include a featurette on the ramped-up action sequences, a behind-the-scenes look at the stunt work and deleted scenes.
Tormented: Special Edition (Blu-ray)
Details: 1960, Gemini Entertainment-Allied Vaughn
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: Bert I. Gordon, known for his low-budget creature features such as “The Amazing Colossal Man,” “War of the Colossal Beast, “Beginning of the End” and “The Spider,” directed this supernatural offering about a jazz pianist, Tom Stewart (Richard Carlson), who allows his jealous ex-girlfriend to fall to her death from a lighthouse in a preventable accident.
Stewart, who is about to marry into a wealthy family, soon begins to haunt Stewart, not allowing him a moment of peace. All kinds of strange events occur, including the ghost causing Stewart to kill a young man.
Of course, Stewart’s conscience is working overtime as Vi, his ex, played by Juli Redding continues to, well, torment him.
You really can’t feel sorry for Stewart who did nothing when Vi began to fall and didn’t even report the accident to the police.
The movie can be purchased at www.moviezyng.com or other online retailers.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; English Dolby digital monaural; English SDH and Japanese subtitles.
Don’t miss: Extras include an alternate “Famous Ghost Stories” version of the movie and digital liner notes.
Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1974, Kino Lorber
Rated: R, violence, language, sexual content
The lowdown: Number 37 in the Kino Cult series is one of the most notorious features in the Nazi-exploitation subgenre.
Yet it was popular enough to spawn a trio of sequels.
Dyanne Thorne portrays Ilsa, the sadistic commandant of a German concentration camp who uses male prisoners as sexual playthings — castrating and executing them if they cannot satisfy her — and women as subjects of medical experiments and torture.
Despite being panned by many mainstream critics, the movie — and its sequels — gained a following among fans of exploitation films.
Thorne became a cult favorite for her performances in these movies, which are not for those with weak stomachs.
An interesting fact, the movie was shot on the set of the TV series “Hogan’s Heroes” after that show was canceled.
Technical aspects: 4K: 2160p ultra-high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles; Blu-ray: 1080p high definition, 1.66:1 widescreen picture; English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Two commentary tracks, one with Thorne and director Don Edmonds, the other with film historians Kat Ellinger and Evgueni Mlodik, and an interview with Edmonds are the main extras.
Mirror Life: Modern Zombies (DVD)
Details: 2024, Cleopatra Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: The movie begins after a global pandemic is narrowly averted.
Tracy Kovalsky discovers that her cousin, Jordan, has gone missing after enrolling in an illegal study at a research facility for a miracle drug called Dumitor.
Following an outbreak at the facility, Jordan and other patients are forced into lock-down where a life-and-death struggle for survival ensues as the patients are hunted down. Meanwhile, Tracy’s search for Jordan exposes a conspiracy to cover up the entire experiment — no matter what the cost in lives.
The movie is in the tradition of George A. Romero’s “Dead” and the “28 Days” franchises. The movie offers a fresh perspective on the genre.
Technical aspects: Widescreen picture; English Dolby digital.
Don’t miss: A director’s commentary track, deleted scenes and outtakes comprise the extras.
The Bone Collector (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray)
Details: 1999, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
Rated: R, violence, language
The lowdown: Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie head the cast of this suspense thriller about a serial killer to leaves behind mysterious pieces of a puzzle.
Washington portrays Lincoln Rhyme, a onetime top homicide investigator, who may be the only person who can decipher the killer’s deranged plan.
But after a devastating accident, Rhyme is paralyzed, confined to a bed and can only watch as other officers stumble while trying to solve the case. Rhyme soon finds an ally — a rookie cop, Amelia Donaghy (Jolie), who helps put the investigator on the correct trail to find the sadistic, vicious and seemingly unstoppable killer.
The movie, directed by Phillip Noyce, also features Queen Latifah, Michael Rooker, Luis Guzmán, Bobby Cannavale and Ed O’Neill.
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: Supplemental materials include three commentary tracks — one by Noyce, a second by film historians Steve Mitchell and Edwin Samuelson and a third by novelist-critic Kim Newman and writer-journalist Barry Forshaw — on both discs, and a spotlight on location featurette on the Blu-ray.
School in the Crosshairs (Blu-ray)
Details: 1981, Cult Epics
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A Japanese science-fiction feature in which ordinary schoolgirl Yuka finds her new term beginning oddly when she unaccountably stops an accident by using latent psychic powers.
Yuka, troubled by her newfound abilities, also senses a strange force starting to take hold of the school. Students are transformed into mind-controlled fascists where they patrol the halls, stifling dissent and mandating the re-education of freethinkers.
Yuka soon discovers that another student with similar abilities is using his skills to control the students and the school. It turns out the other student is from Venus.
The movie is an allegory about fascism. It is a wacky, fun and quirky feature that is most entertaining.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 1.85:1 widescreen picture; Japanese 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, 5.1 Dolby digital surround and 2.0 LPCM stereo; English subtitles.
Don’t miss: Bonus materials include a commentary track by film critic Max Robinson and a visual essay about the movie.
Candy Apple (Blu-ray)
Details: 2016, Anchor Bay Entertainment-MVD Visual Entertainment
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: The complexities of a father-son relationship are at the centerpiece of this New York Lower East Side-based story.
Texas Trash, a double amputee and former punk musician moves in with his adult son after burning bridges out west.
His son, Bobby, is an aspiring filmmaker dealing with his own creative ambitions while trying to help his father stay sober.
Their lives intertwine with a group of eccentric characters, which leads both men to confront their pasts and the challenges of their present situations.
The movie captures the Big Apple’s undercurrent of vice and desperation through the eyes of two men trying to straighten out their lives.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, widescreen picture; English Dolby digital.
Don’t miss: The main extra is a “What Is Punk Rock Cinema” featurette.
Screamityville (Blu-ray)
Details: 2024, Borderline Media Group
Rated: Not rated
The lowdown: A fun activity during October is to drive around neighborhoods to see how people have decorated their homes to mark Halloween.
It is interesting — and sometimes disturbing — to see the creativity — or obsessiveness — of some people. Homes vary from pumpkins and scarecrows to full-out haunted houses that would give Dracula or the Wolf Man second thoughts about knocking on a door for trick or treat.
“Screamityville” is a documentary about a small town in which the residents transform their homes into terrifying spectacles with witches, zombies, ghosts and monsters.
They don’t do it for fun, but to keep visitors away.
Those who dare to enter the town’s gates will be surprised at what horrors await them. And once you are inside, there is no guarantee that you will make it out — or survive.
Technical aspects: 1080p high definition, 16:9 widescreen picture; English Dolby digital stereo.
Other titles being released on Tuesday, unless otherwise indicated:
Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight (DVD) (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
The Mannequin (Blu-ray & DVD & digital & VOD) (Jackrabbit Media)
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, STREAMING or VOD
Chad Powers: Episode 4 (Hulu)
If That Mockingbird Don’t Sing (Tribeca Films)
Only Murders in the Building: Season 5, Episode 8 (Hulu)
Queen of Manhattan (Level 33 Entertainment)
The Royal Cat (Well Go USA Entertainment)
Stinger (Breaking Glass Pictures)
Trillion Boys (Strike Back Films)
OCT. 15
Cuisine de la ‘Pocalypse (Indie Rights Distribution)
Loot: Season 3, Episodes 1 & 2 (Apple TV+)
The Morning Show: Season 4, Episode 5 (Apple TV+)
Murdaugh: Death in the Family: Episodes 1-3 (Hulu)
Slow Horses: Season 5, Episode 4 (Apple TV+)
OCT. 16
The Demons (Kino Film Collection)
Little Did I Know (Viaplay)
Two Orphan Vampires (Kino Film Collection)
Reasonable Doubt: Season 3, Episode 6 (Hulu)
OCT. 17
Betania (Film Movement Plus)
Delivery Run (Saban Films)
The Jester 2 (Dread)
The Last Frontier: Episode 3 (Apple TV+)
Mr. Scorsese: Episodes 1-5 (Apple TV+)
Other (Shudder)
The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix)
She Walks in Darkness (Netflix)
Some Nights I Feel Like Walking (Omnibus Entertainment)
Suspicious Minds (Wondermind-Agoric Media)
The Twits (Netflix)
OCT. 20
Beverly Hills, 90210: The Complete Series (Paramount Pictures)
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.