For the week leading up to All Hallow’s Eve, there’s a surprising dearth of new horror releases hitting DVD. Rest assured, though, titillation and scares can be found in a trio of horror comedies (Zombie Strippers, Poultrygeist, and the reissued slasher classic, Pieces). (Watch our interview with Zombie Stripper Jenna Jameson below.) For tamer fare, check out Kit Kittredge, Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D, and Disney’s CGI Tinker Bell.
If forty percent on the Tomatometer seems surprisingly high for a horror comedy about strippers-turned-walking dead starring former adult actress Jenna Jameson, think about this; it’s about 30 percentage points better than Saw V, and you can watch it in the safety of your own home this Halloween! Zombie Strippers is about, well, undead exotic dancers, who comprise one side of a strangely philosophical battle with their still-human counterparts when a secret government experiment is unleashed upon the unsuspecting denizens of the Rhino club.
Do zombies dance better? Are regular old strippers passé without super-human pole dancing skills and a ravenous hunger for human flesh? Find out with the Unrated Special Edition DVD, which includes a few featurettes, deleted scenes, and a commentary track by director Jay Lee and actors Joey Medina, Jenna Jameson, and Robert Englund.
Watch our exclusive one-on-one chat with Jameson below!
Next: Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
Based on the uber-popular children’s doll and book franchise, the film follows aspiring newspaper reporter Kit Kittredge (Breslin) as her family struggles through the Great Depression and she unravels a mysterious rash of crimes. Breslin gets class-act support from an impressive cast of grown-ups that include Julia Ormond, Stanley Tucci, Jane Krakowski, Chris O’Donnell and Joan Cusack. A digital copy and DVD-ROM with bonus content accompany the film. Next: Journey in 3-D
Pick up the Limited Edition set for a 2-D cut and a 3-D version, which comes with four pairs of 3-D glasses. Next: Tarantino can’t save this Hell Ride
Bishop also shows up on a comprehensive commentary track and making-of featurettes on the “Bikes,” the “Babes,” and the “Guys” of Hell Ride. Next: Pledge Delta with Animal House 30th Anniversary set
Did you ever wish you could live amongst the irreverent, partying brothers of Delta Tau Chi fraternity? Well, now you can take home the Delta house itself, in an all new Animal House 30th Anniversary DVD housed in the most raucous domicile of Faber College.
The collegiate gross-out comedy classic from director John Landis celebrates middle age with a 2-disc Special Edition ($19.98) and gift set package ($34.98) that include all-new special features, Scene-It trivia games, and reunion interviews with the cast and filmmakers. Drop a few more bucks for the frat house-shaped gift set, which also includes a new 98-minute documentary and a collectible yearbook.
Next: Tinker Bell’s starring debut
Tots will likely be enraptured, as will anyone who recognizes the names Jesse McCartney (who voice acts), Katharine McPhee, and Selena Gomez (who contribute songs to the soundtrack).
Next: The lens turns on celeb photographer Annie Leibovitz.
Next: Brazilian police get brutal in Elite Squad
Next: Troma flies with Poultrygeist
Next: Our Halloween slasher pick of the week!
Resist the urge to dismiss little miss Abigail Breslin, whose star turn in this summer’s period adventure about an intrepid Depression-era girl has put her in the running to overtake Dakota Fanning’s tween queen crown. At 78 percent on the Tomatometer and Certified Fresh, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl is one of this week’s best bets for quality flicks on DVD, so give it a try — and fellas, you don’t have to tell a soul if you enjoy it.
3. New to DVD: Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D
Though Jules Verne’s classic sci-fi tale has been adapted before for the screen (some good, some bad), it hadn’t yet been adapted into the future of movie-watching: 3-D. Until now. Brendan Fraser stars in this loose reimagining as Trevor Anderson, a geologist who finds himself in otherworldly underground danger with his teenage nephew (Josh Hutcherson) and an Icelandic hottie (Anita Briem). In three dimensions!
Thanks to the genre-obsessed films of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino (who produced Hell Ride), the B-movie grind house aesthetic has returned to vogue. If only replicating that grimy, gleefully vulgar sensibility consistently translated to compelling cinema. B-movie actor Larry Bishop enlists the likes of Michael Madsen, Eric Balfour, and Dennis Hopper in this gratuitous and indulgent biker movie, written, acted, directed and produced by none other than B-movie actor Larry Bishop.
Follow Disney into the 21st century with this CGI-animated spin-off film starring Peter Pan’s beloved fairy BFF, Tinker Bell. In her first solo adventure, Tinker Bell (voiced by Mae Whitman, AKA George Michael Bluth’s girlfriend “Bland” Ann Veal, who reportedly beat Brittany Murphy for the role) arrives in the town of Pixie Hollow to determine her destiny, meeting plenty of A-list fairies along the way (voiced by Kristin Chenowith, Lucy Liu, America Ferrera, Anjelica Huston, and more). But what’s a Disney film without musical numbers? And will such a familiar character hold up to the liberties taken in the name of updating Tinker Bell’s legend for children of today (speaking for the first time, for example)?
Having shot some of the most iconic celebrity photographs in the last few decades (John Lennon on the eve of his death, Demi Moore nude and pregnant, and Miley Cyrus most recently), it’s about time photographer Annie Leibovitz got her own documentary. Shot, written, and directed by Leibovitz’s sister Barbara, Life Through a Lens follows Leibovitz at work snapping celebrities, interviewing a handful of them about their photo shoot experiences while discussing the life and career of the woman who gave Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair some of their most intimate celebrity portraits ever.
If you enjoyed 2002’s City of God, check out another crime drama set in the heart of Brazil’s most dangerous neighborhoods. Based on the nonfiction book Elite de Tropa, about Rio de Janeiro’s elite BOPE special police force, Elite Squad follows police captain Nascimento (Wagner Moura) as he struggles to find his own replacement before retiring. While critics split over the brutal, violent tale, this is precisely the type of film that finds a life on DVD.
Those familiar (and amused by) the antics of Lloyd Kaufman and his merry band of indie moviemakers will thrill at the latest Troma release, a horror musical-comedy that shows what could happen when a fast-food fried chicken restaurant gets built over the burial grounds of ancient native Americans: homicidal ghost-chickens! Kaufman himself directs and makes an appearance; Ron Jeremy shows up playing a character named “Crazy Ron.” Cinephiles, skip directly to the next entry!
Just in time for Halloween, pick up this 1982 cult horror flick and prepare yourself for one of the most outrageous, gory, and audacious slasher films ever made! In Pieces, a killer is on the loose at a Boston college, murdering his victims with a chainsaw to build a puzzle out of pieces of flesh. Throw in a random scene of kung-fu and a finale to remember, and Pieces earns its place among the schlockiest of schlock classics. Find a wealth of production information and cast interviews on Grindhouse Releasing’s new 2-disc release.
