10. HARDWARE

Severin is quickly becoming the Criterion Collection of B-Movies, giving a lot of them more TLC than they might deserve. And no film in their library is more debatable than Richard Stanley‘s Hardware. Love it or hate it, Stanley delivers a film with enough impact that its cult status has become undeniable. However you might end up feeling about this post-apocalyptic, cyborg stalker thriller, there’s no denying that Severin has delivered one hell of a Blu-ray disc!

9. WOLF

Jack Nicholson as a werewolf? Hell yeah! It’s a can’t miss concept. But you know what? They kind-of end up missing. All right, Wolf is actually pretty great until the final act. It’s a Mike Nichols (The Graduate, Closer) film, so you know there’s something to like there. A lot of drama. Some great character stuff between Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, James Spader, Christopher Plummer and a host of some of the finest actors you’re likely to see in a horror-comedy-drama.

8. MONSTERS VS. ALIENS

Monsters! Aliens! Versus! This animated film from Dreamworks/Paramount has got it all! All right, this isn’t really a very Halloween-y kind of movie but it’s a lot of fun, looks fantastic on Blu-ray and is probably the only one suitable for the whole family. What happens when the Earth suffers an invasion by aliens who can repel every attack we throw at them? We call upon Earth’s last defense – MONSTERS!

7. THE CRAFT

How have I managed to live to this old age without seeing 90s young-witch film, The Craft?! Well, all of that changed this week when I finally got a chance to sit down with Sony‘s new Blu-ray disc release of the film. And you know what? It might be a bit dated but it’s not a bad film! And the disc itself is a winner, sporting a nice, new, detailed transfer and a full port of all the DVDs special features.

6. NIGHT OF THE CREEPS

The Night of the Creeps Blu-ray disc just showed up at my door this morning and I seriously can’t wait to dive into it! This is a film that’s been almost impossible to see on home video for ages but has now been revived in a glorious, feature packed Blu-ray disc. Creeps packs every Sci-fi and Horror convention it can think of into its brief 90 minute runtime and would lead director Fred Dekker to follow with his cult-hit film, Monster Squad (coming to Blu-ray in November.)

5. MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN

Okay, I get how most people hate this film. But come on, it’s seriously the best, most book-accurate version of Frankenstein put to film in recent times. Kenneth Branagh directs and stars with Robert DeNiro filling Boris Karloff‘s iconic boots as the monster. The Blu-ray disc looks as fine and as detailed as it most likely ever will on home video. I really wish there was a commentary track or making-of doc to round out the package, though.

4. DEAD SNOW

The mighty Stone gave the Dead Snow Blu-ray disc a look for us this week and, despite his dislike for zombies of the speedy variety, found this tale of Nazi-Zombies in the Norwegian wilderness to be a pretty good time. Me? I haven’t had a chance to put it on yet but I’m really excited to dig into it. Sadly, for fans outside of Canada and the UK, this film has yet to see release on Blu-ray. Import a copy from Amazon.ca for only $26.99.

3. DRAG ME TO HELL

Oh boy! I got a press pass to see this in the theatres and I had such a great time I almost offered to pay for the ticket on the way out! Drag Me To Hell is such a ridiculously fun, gross film and such a perfect return to horror-genre form for director Sam Raimi. I haven’t seen the Blu-ray yet but if it can approximate the theatrical experience in any way, I’m sure it will bowl me over a second time. I wonder what the “Unrated” footage will be…

2. AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON

What can I possibly say about An American Werewolf in London? Outside of the 1942 Wolfman film starring Lon Chaney Jr., this is probably the most famous, most fantastic werewolf film ever made! John Landis successfully combined horror with comedy and some groundbreaking visual and make-up effects by Rick Baker to create a whole new kind of experience. The Blu-ray looks great and contains an amazing fan-made documentary that needs to be seen to be believed.

1. TRICK ‘R TREAT

I’m shocked. I had no expectation of this film whatsoever. And it blew me away! Mark my words, it’s only a matter of time before Trick ‘r Treat becomes the Christmas Story of Halloween – the cult film that scare-fans watch annually to celebrate the season. This film has got it all – great script, great frights and a top notch cast. And the Blu-ray does it justice with a fantastic transfer, great sound and a wonderful commentary track by writer and first-time director, Michael Dougherty (X-Men 2, Superman Returns).

Also available, but kind-of more of a ninja flik than horror film – Blood: The Last Vampire

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