Willard

Synopsis from the Press Release:

For years, Willard Stiles (Crispin Glover, The Wizard of Gore) has been trapped in a dead-end job with no friends and no future. Willard’s life seems hopeless until he makes an eerie discovery: he shares a powerful bond with the rats that dwell in his basement. Now a guy who has been trampled in the rat race his entire life is suddenly ready to tear up the competition … beginning with his boss.

Adam Says:

Willard is LONG overdue for a Blu-ray release and Scream Factory has delivered a truly amazing disc that is just packed full of extras. This is a very strange movie, strange perhaps as Crispin Glover himself. It’s a horror film that revels more in its weirdness than its scares. Look for the top notch performances from Glover and the late great R Lee Ermey. I am kind of surprised Glover didn’t provide an audio commentary. I am especially pleased that the Ben music video is included; it is a surreal little performance that is not to be missed.

Special Features Include:

• NEW 2K scan of the original film elements
• NEW Audio Commentary with writer/director Glen Morgan and director of photography Robert McLachlan
• NEW Audio Commentary with animal trainers Mark Harden and David Allsberry of Animals for Hollywood
• NEW The Road to Willard – an interview with writer/director Glen Morgan
• NEW Destination Willard – an interview with director of photography Robert McLachlan
• NEW The Rat Trainer’s Notebook – behind-the-scenes footage from Animals for Hollywood
• Audio Commentary with writer/director Glen Morgan, producer James Wong, actors Crispin Glover and R. Lee Ermey
• The Year of the Rat – a documentary on the making of WILLARD
• Rat People: Friends or Foes? – A Real Rat Documentary
• Deleted/Alternate Scenes with optional commentary
• Music Video BEN by Crispin Hellion Glover with optional commentary
• Behind-the-Scenes Footage and interviews from the electronic press kit
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots

Berlin Alexanderplatz

Synopsis from the Press Release:

Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s fifteen-hour _Berlin Alexanderplatz_, based on Alfred Döblin’s great modernist novel, was the crowning achievement of a prolific director who, at age thirty-four, had already made over thirty films. Fassbinder’s immersive epic follow the hulking, childlike ex-convict Franz Biberkopf (Günter Lamprecht) as he attempts to “become an honest soul” amid the corrosive urban landscape of Weimar-era Germany. With equal parts cynicism and humanity, Fassbinder details a mammoth portrait of a common man struggling to survive in a viciously uncommon time.

Adam Says:

Fassbinder fans, Berlin is here! I think that Criterion is determined to singlehandedly release Fassbinder’s considerable filmography. I’ve previously covered their releases of World on a Wire and The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant and now I am tackling his 15 hour epic, Berlin Alexanderplatz. This is a giant miniseries that will keep you busy all weekend. It looks beautiful, having been fully restored. I’m fairly certain it’s a comedy but it’s very, very German so it can be a little difficult to tell. Regardless, if you’re into Fassbinder or Wiemar republic stories, be sure you pick this one up.

Special Features Include:

• High-definition digital restoration by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation and Bavaria Media, supervised and approved by director of photography Xaver Schwarzenberger, with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• Two documentaries by Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation president Juliane Lorenz: one from 2007 featuring interviews with the cast and crew, the other from 2006 on the restoration
• Hans-Dieter Hartl’s 1980 documentary _Notes on the Making of “Berlin Alexanderplatz”_
• Phil Jutzi’s 1931 feature-length film of Alfred Döblin’s novel, from a screenplay cowritten by Döblin himself
• Interview from 2007 with Peter Jelavich, author of _”Berlin Alexanderplatz”: Radio, Film, and the Death of Weimar Culture_
• PLUS: A book featuring an essay by filmmaker Tom Tykwer, reflections on the novel by Fassbinder and author Thomas Steinfeld, and an interview with Schwarzenberger

Sarah T. Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic

Synopsis from the Press Release:

Sarah Travis (Linda Blair) is an average teenager who is introduced to drinking alcohol at local parties. As a means of coping with problems in her life, most notably her parents’ divorce, Sarah starts to drink regularly and tries to keep her addiction a secret, even from her boyfriend (Mark Hamill). Eventually, Sarah’s increasingly severe drinking almost leads to tragedy, and she enters Alcoholics Anonymous, beginning an ongoing struggle to get sober and stay that way.

Adam Says:

Oh boy, who could have guessed that a 1970’s made-for-TV movie about teenage alcoholism could be so entertaining. It’s meant as a cautionary tale but honestly it made me sad I wasn’t out getting loaded right then. This is little Linda Blair, right around the time of the Exorcist, acting super drunk and rowdy for 90 minutes. Spoiler alert, it ends with her stealing and killing Luke Skywalker’s horse. This is a must have title to play at the end of parties when everyone is super wasted, you won’t regret it.

Special Features Include:

• NEW 2K scan of the original film elements
• NEW Linda B. on Sarah T. – an interview with Linda Blair
• NEW Richard D. and David L. – Portrait of A TV Movie – an interview with director Richard Donner and producer David Levinson
• Still Gallery

 

Cobra

Synopsis from the Press Release:

Director George P. Cosmatos teams up again with Stallone for this thriller pitting Cobretti against a merciless serial killer. The trail leads to not one murderer but also an army of psychos bent on slashing their way to a “New Order” – and killing a witness along the way. Fortunately, her protector is Cobra, a man who delivers vigilante justice like no other!

Adam Says:

This movie was allegedly much longer before release and it kind of shows. The plot borders on incoherent with all the gaping holes in the narrative. All we’re really left with is a lot of shots of Stallone drifting through scenes shooting things. Even a lot of the deaths aren’t clear because of key gore and violence shots being removed.  It’s such a mishmash of brokenness that there really isn’t much to see but by now it’s become historical so it’s worth watching at least once.

Special Features Include:

• NEW 2K Scan of the original film elements
• NEW Stalking and Slashing – an interview with actor Brian Thompson
• NEW Meet the Disease – an interview with actor Marco Rodriguez
• NEW Feel the Heat – an interview with actor Andrew Robinson
• NEW Double Crossed – an interview with actress Lee Garlington
• NEW A Work of Art – an interview with actor Art LaFleur
• Audio Commentary with director George P. Cosmatos
• Vintage Featurette
• Teaser Trailer
• Theatrical Trailer
• Still Galleries – stills, movie posters and lobby cards

 

Valentine

Synopsis from the Press Release:

Be my Valentine … or else. Broken hearts and other mortal wounds await a cast of contemporary young stars when they play dating-scene veterans dying for love in this humor-laced, twist-filled thriller cleverly directed by Jamie Blanks (Urban Legend) and starring David Boreanaz (Angel, Bones), Denise Richards (Starship Troopers), Marley Shelton (Scream 4, Planet Terror), Katherine Heigl (Grey’s Anatomy) and more. Cards, candy and flowers are nice. But for fans of stalker-shocker terror, there’s nothing like a Valentine.

Adam Says:

Look at that list of extras! Scream Factory really pulled out all the stops for this Collector’s Edition; when you get through all those special features you will know everything you could ever want to know about Valentine. But why? I have to believe that someone just did a really good job of archiving material because a lot bigger titles have been released with a whole lot less. Valentine was a Scream-era horror release that came out when the sub-genre was gasping it’s last. It’s not bad but so completely of the ilk that it stood out in almost no way. Anyways, if nothing else, you now have another horror for February 14^th when you get tired of running My Bloody Valentine (I’m just kidding, that could never happen).

Special Features Include:

• NEW 2K scan of the original film elements supervised and approved by director Jamie Blanks and director of photography Rick Bota
• NEW Audio Commentary with director Jamie Blanks and filmmaker Don Coscarelli, moderated by author Peter Bracke
• NEW Thrill of the Drill – an interview with actress Denise Richards
• NEW The Final Girl – an interview with actress Marley Shelton
• NEW Shot Through the Heart – an interview with actress Jessica Cauffiel
• NEW Writing Valentine – an interview with co-writers Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts
• NEW Editing Valentine  – an interview with editor Steve Mirkovich
• NEW Scoring Valentine – an interview with composer Don Davis
• NEW Almost 2 hours of never-before-seen behind-the-scenes footage from director Jamie Blanks’ personal archive
• Audio Commentary with director Jamie Blanks
• Vintage “Making of” featurette featuring cast and crew
• Extended interviews and behind-the-scenes footage from the electronic press kit
• Deleted Scenes including extended death scenes
• Music Video
• Teaser Trailer
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots
• Still Gallery
• Hidden Easter Egg