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DVD Releases: 03/07/2006
By John Marrone
Mar 7, 2006, 16:20

NEWSWIRE - Horror news writer John Marrone is wanted on several counts of murder, as nearly thirty bodies were found in the basement of his home Monday evening.  HouseofHorrors Caretaker and its News Editor Dave Dreher were absent this past weekend while attending Fangoria's horror convention in Chicago.  Men and women began to turn up missing on Saturday.  On Monday night at around 6pm, police entered HouseofHorrors with a search warrant and found 28 bodies partially dismembered and kept in basement freezers.  Among other evidence collected were several mason jars filled with blood.  Marrone is currently being detained in the Riverhead Correctional Facility in New York awaiting trial.  From the amateur independant filmmaker to the mega-dollar hollywood productions... Here are the new DVD releases for the week of March 7th, 2006...

Death and Spirit (1992)
- trailer (quicktime) -
65 minutes

Unrated
Starring Masato Hagiwara, Miki Nakatini
Directed by Hideo Nakata

Story 1: The Cursed Doll
Someone is calling Satomi in her dreams. As she follows the voice, she finds that a doll appears to be the source; a doll carrying the spirit of her dead sister.

Story 2: The Spirit of the Dead
Following her husband's death, a woman takes her son on a camping trip. The family outing is disrupted by the appearance of a female specter who believes the boy to be her own.

Story 3: The Haunted Inn
Three girls decide to take a vacation at a traditional Japanese inn. Unaware of the tragedy that occurred there, they find themselves in the presence of a spirit who forces them to repeat the events of that day.

DVD Special Features include:  English subtitles, Japanese audio tracks (unknown format), image gallery, and bonus previews

Click here to get it from Amazon.com  

Dumpster Baby (2000)
80 minutes

Unrated
Starring Angela Benjamen, Akasha Sjolin, Jeffery Charlton
Directed by James Bickert, Randy Hill

Amazon.com Description:  A drug addict gives birth to a premature crack baby and abandons it in a dumpster. Helpless and left for dead, the dumpster baby begins a surreal journey as it encounters a wide array of bizarre characters, including an adulterous surgeon, a vicious street pimp, a mentally handicapped garbage man and a crack-addled hooker with a heart of gold. A modern grindhouse classic in the tradition of "Street Trash" and "Saw".

IMDB.com - “A daring, darkly disturbing wonder that plays like a Bunuel film crossed with 70s grindhouse horror."

DVD Special Features include:  Commentary from the filmmakers: James Bickert, Randy Hill and Bill Burton, Wildman music video by Korable - filmed in Moscow and starring Lloyd Kaufman, film introduction by Lloyd Kaufman - President of Troma and Creator of the Toxic Avenger, and"Omelette-ing" - a first look at Poultrygeist

Click here to get it from Amazon.com   

Harvest of Fear (2004)
- official site -
95 minutes

Rated R for violence, language, some sexuality/nudity and brief drug use
Starring Ryan Deal, Justin Ament, Don Adler
Directed by Brad Goodman

IMDB Plot Description:  Terror is growing...  Medical intern Billy McKinley arrives in the small town of Devil's Lake and finds himself thrust into the middle of a mystery as a string of unsolved murders start just as the annual Harvest Festival is about to begin. The murders happen to be similar to those of 20 years earlier. Has the original killer resurfaced or has a copycat come to take his place? Now, Billy must find a killer and save the town before it's too late.

Click here to get it from Amazon.com  

Horror House on Highway 5 (1986)
173 minutes

Unrated
Starring Phil Therrien, Max Manthey,  Irene F.
Directed by Richard Casey

Amazon.com Description:  A van full of college students traveling down a highway is terrorized by a psycho killer in a Richard Nixon mask.

Cavett Binion - All Movie Guide:  "The misleading promotional materials for this direct-to-video slasher dud describe it as an over-the-top parody involving a family of psycho serial killers, similar to the cannibal kin of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, whose patriarch is less a "Leatherface" than a "Nixonface," as he frequently dons a rubber mask of the former president when doing his murderous deeds. The movie's satire is so muddled by an incoherent script and amateurish direction that any potential for macabre humor is wasted. It's not sleazy enough to qualify as exploitation; the only ones being exploited here are the film's financial backers and any would-be video renters suckered in by the video's goofy cover art."

DVD Special Features include:  History of Hollywood horror films, including the Horror House original theatrical trailer

Click here to get it from Amazon.com  

Invitation to Murder (2006)
856 minutes

Unrated
Starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi
Directed by Charles S. Dubin, many others

This is a collection of horror films - mostly bad television ones.

Disc 1:
MURDER ONCE REMOVED (1971)
POWER,PASSION, AND MURDER (1987)
CALL IT MURDER (1935)
MURDER BY TELEVISION (1935)

Disc 2:
REHEARSAL FOR MURDER (1982)
THEY CALL IT MURDER (1971)
MURDER ON FLIGHT 502 (1975)
 
Disc 3:
PLEASE MURDER ME (1956)
MURDER STORY (1989)
MURDER (1930)

DVD Special Features include:  English audio tracks (Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround), murder movie trailers, poster gallery, and a Stanley Gardner "eerie bio"

Click here to get it from Amazon.com  

Portrait of Hell (1969)
95 minutes

Unrated
Starring Eisei Amamoto, YĂ´ko Naito, Tatsuya Nakadai
Directed by Shirô Toyoda

Amazon.com Description:  Film legend Tatsuya Nakadai (Sword of Doom, Ran) stars as the troubled artist who is commissioned to paint a beautiful picture, but instead only paints the death and famine he sees in the world around him. Written by one of Japan's best known writers, Ryunosuke Akutagawa (Rashomon), Portrait of Hell's canvassed story-line is a journey of revenge, love and despair, which eventually leads to a horrific, fiery conclusion.

DVD Special Features include:  English subtitles, Japanese audio tracks (unknown format), original theatrical and teaser trailers, cast and crew bios, and program notes

Click here to get it from Amazon.com  

Rape Is a Circle (2006)
running time:  n/a

Unrated
Starring n/a
Directed by Bill Zebub

Two girls hitch a ride, unaware of the fury of the driver. They endure humiliating perversions and excruciating pain. Their friendship warps as they are forced to perform sexual acts on each other for the twisted amusement of their captor. Escape is no easy thing to accomplish. Should they fail they will surely die.  This film explores the cycle of cruelty - how pain does not end with the victim.  The ripples touch many, setting off new waves of torment.  The story pushes your limits of sympathy as well as condemnation. Things are not black and white. This tale does not tell you what to think…  but it will make you think!

Euro-import, exploitation film, rape and brutality

DVD Special Features include:  English audio tracks (format unknown), and a trailer
 
Click here to get it from Amazon.com 

Werewolves, Vampires and Zombies (2006)
780 minutes

Unrated
Starring Jacinto Molina, many others
Directed by León Klimovsky, many others

Another compilation of horror movies about - do I have to say it?

Disc 1:
WEREWOLF VS THE VAMPIRE WOMAN (1971)
TEENAGE ZOMBIES (1959)
MOON OF THE WOLF (1972)
REVOLT OF THE ZOMBIES (1936)

Disc 2:
VAMPIRE HAPPENING (1971)
THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA (1974)
WOLFMAN (1979)

Disc 3:
ATOM AGE VAMPIRE (1960)
WEREWOLF OF WASHINGTON (1973)
GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE (1974)

DVD Special Features include:  English audio tracks (Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround), movie trailers, trivia game, and a "Montage of Terror" featurette
 
Click here to get it from Amazon.com  

OTHER DVD RELEASES THIS WEEK

Hills Have Eyes (1977)- (UMD Mini For PSP) - trailer (windows media/real player)
- Anchor Bay rerelease of the original
- Directed by Wes Craven, starring Robert Houston, Martin Speer, Dee Wallace-Stone
- Get it here

Near Dark (1987) - (UMD Mini For PSP) - trailer (windows media/real player)
- A young man reluctantly joins a travelling "family" of evil vampires, when the girl he'd tried to seduce is part of that group
- Starring Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton, directed by Kathryn Bigelow
- Horror/western
- Get it here

The Toxic Avenger (1985) - (UMD Mini For PSP) - trailer (windows media/real player)
- Starring Andree Maranda, Mitch Cohen, Jennifer Prichard
- Directed by Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman
- Ahh ha ha ha ha...  No tickie - no washie!
- Get it here