LionsGate cheers up JOSHY (Review)

Four months after the abrupt and tragic end of his engagement, Joshy invites his best friends to what was meant to be his bachelor party.  Drowning themselves in sex, drugs, and partying, the five men try to avoid confronting the problems in their personal lives that are eating away at them.

REVIEW LINK: LionsGate (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

JOSHY Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.40:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English, English SDH, and Spanish subtitles
• Audio Commentary by writer/director Jeff Baena, producer/actor Adam Pally, and actor Thomas Middleditch
• Previews

Maltauro Entertainment warns NEVER OPEN THE DOOR (review)

An already tense Thanksgiving dinner in a cabin in the woods is crashed by a dying man who warns the guests "Never Open the Door" in this black and white homage to the works of TWILIGHT ZONE/ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR director John Brahm (grandfather of the film's producer).

REVIEW LINK: Maltauro Entertainment (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

NEVER OPEN THE DOOR Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-2 1.78:1 widescreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Interview with actress Jessica Sonneborn
• Interview with director Vito Trabucco
• Interview with producer Christopher Maltauro
• Photo Gallery
• Trailer
• "For Maggie" featurette

LionsGate presents Jackie Chan's SKIPTRACE (review)

Jackie Chan stars as a cop pursuing Hong Kong's notorious drug kingpin "The Matador" who gets sidetracked pursuing an American conman (Johnny Knoxville) who is on the run from the Russian mob and The Matador's men when he inadvertently witnesses a murder.  The pair travel across Russia, Mongolia, and China in a series of slapstick adventures and action sequences.  From director Renny Harlin.

REVIEW LINK: LionsGate (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

SKIPTRACE Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.40:1 widescreen
• English/Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English, English SDH, and Spanish subtitles.
• Audio Commentary by director Renny Harlin
• "When Jackie Met Johnny" featurette
• Previews

Simply Media laughs with Spike Milligan's Q VOLUME 1 SERIES 1-3 (review)

Spike Milligan's revolutionary sketch comedy series comes to DVD from Simply Media, compiling the surviving episodes of series 1 an the complete series 2 and 3 in a three-disc set.

REVIEW LINK: Simply Media (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

Q VOLUME 1 SERIES 1-3 DVD specs:

• The surviving episodes of series 1 and complete series 2 and 3 on three dual-layer DVDs
• 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
• English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
• Optional English HoH subtitles

Criterion compiles the TRILOGIA DE GUILLERMO DEL TORO (review)

Criterion combines in a sumptuous boxed set Guillermo del Toro's three pre-CRIMSON PEAK works of Gothic horror: the Mexican CRONOS in which an antiques dealer becomes infected with vampirism through an alchemical device, the Spanish THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE in which a young boy discovers the dark secrets of a remote orphanage during the Spanish civil war, and the Spanish PAN'S LABYRINTH in which a young girl discovers a portal to an underground kingdom that offers escape from her war torn childhood.

REVIEW LINK: Criterion Collection (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

TRILOGIA DE GUILLERMO DEL TORO Blu-ray specs:

• Cronos (1997):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English/Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Surround
• Optional English subtitles
• Optional Spanish or English opening voiceover
• Audio Commentary with director Guilermo del Toro
• Audio Commentary with producers Arthur H. Gorson and Bertha Navarro and co-producer Alejandro Springall
• "Geometria" short (6:53)
• Interview with director Guillermo del Toro (6:27)
• "Welcome to Bleak House" featurette (10:14)
• Interview with Guilermo del Toro (17:36)
• Interview with cinematographer Guillermo Navarro (12:36)
• Interview with actor Ron Perlman (7:25)
• Interview with actor Federico Luppi (5:25)
• Stills Gallery
• Theatrical Trailer (1:29)
• The Devil's Backbone (2001):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Optional English subtitles
• Audio Commentary with director Guillermo del Toro
• Introduction by Guillermo del Toro
• "Summoning Spirits" interview with Guillermo del Toro
• "Spanish Gothic" interview with Guillermo del Toro
• "Designing THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE" interview with Guillermo del Toro
• "¿Que es un fantasma?" featurette
• "Director’s Notebook" interactive feature
• Deleted Scenes with optional audio commentary by Guillermo del Toro
• "A War of Value" interview with scholar Sebastiaan Faber
• "Sketch, Storyboard, Screen" featurette
• "Del Toro's Thumbnails" interactive bonus view feature
• Theatrical Trailer
• Pan's Labyrinth (2006):
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 7.1 tracks
• Optional English subtitles
• Audio Commentary with director/writer Guillermo del Toro
• Director's Introduction
• "Del Toro and Funke" interview with Guillermo del Toro and writer Cornelia Funke
• "Director's Notebook" interactive feature
• Documentaries:
• "The Power of Myth"
• "Pan and the Fairies"
• "The Color and the Shape"
• "The Melody Echoes the Fairy Tale"
• Interview with actor Doug Jones
• Ivana Baquero Audition
• Prequel Comics
• Video Comparisons
• Trailers and TV Spots
• 100-page hardcover book featuring an introduction by author Neil Gaiman, essays by critics Michael Atkinson, Mark Kermode, and Maitland McDonagh, production notes, and original sketches by Guillermo del Toro and illustrators Carlos Giménez and Raúl Monge.

Arrow Video USA tunes in to CREEPSHOW 2 (review)

George A. Romero and Stephen King return - if only on paper - for CREEPSHOW 2 directed by DAWN OF THE DEAD cinematographer Michael Gornick.  In "Old Chief Woodenhead" a cigar store Indian comes to life to avenge his slaughtered shopkeepers.  In "The Raft", a quartet of celebrating high school grads is trapped in the middle of a remote like by a flesh-eating oil slick.  In "The Hitchhiker" a woman in a hurry runs down a hitchhiker who refuses to die no matter how many times she runs him over.

REVIEW LINK: Arrow Video USA (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

CREEPSHOW 2 Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, LPCM 2.0 stereo, and LPCM 1.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary with director Michael Gornick; moderated by Perry Martin
• "Poncho’s Last Ride" interview with actor Daniel Beer
• "The Road to Dover" interview with actor Tom Wright
• "Screenplay for a Sequel" interview with screenwriter George A. Romero
• "Tales from the Creep" interview with actor and make-up artist Tom Savini
• "Nightmares in Foam Rubber" documentary
• "My Friend Rick" interview with special effects artist Howard Berger
• Behind-the-Scenes Footage
• "Image Gallery" slideshow
• 2 Theatrical Trailers
• TV Spot
• BD-ROM Content: Original Screenplay
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork
• Limited Edition containing "Creepshow 2: Pinfall" a booklet featuring the never-before-seen comic adaptation of the unfilmed Creepshow 2 segment by artist Jason Mayoh and a collector’s booklet featuring a new writing on the film by Michael Blyth.

Lionsgate resurrects Vestron Video and C.H.U.D. II: BUD THE CHUD (review)

The CHUDs are loose again in this eighties teen comedy sequel to the original cult classic.  When prankster Steve and nerd Kevin lose a corpse meant for their biology class lecture, they rope best friend Katie into helping them steal a replacement body from the town's disease control center.  What they do not realize is that the corpse is a test subject for the CHUD enzyme to create super soldiers which has the unfortunate side effect of spreading communicable cannibalism.

REVIEW LINK: Vestron Video Collector's Series/LionsGate (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

C.H.U.D. II: BUD THE CHUD Blu-ray specs:

• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
• English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
• Optional English SDH subtitles
• Audio Commentary by director David Irving
• Interview with actor Gerit Graham
• Interview with actress Tricia Leigh Fisher
• Interview with effects artist Allan Apone
• Stills Gallery
• Video Trailer