Shout! Factory in July

July looks like the proverbial calm before the storm for Shout! Factory. There are a lighter-than-usual number of releases this month, and while there are a couple of Blu-rays coming that I'm excited for, there's no triple-A, must haves dropping. That doesn't mean we're not going to chop it up right here, right now.

July 7

Here's one of those Shout! Factory releases that looks like nothing on the surface, but, with a bit of digging, you get why it was picked up. "Proximity" is a direct-to-video release from 2020 that's billed as in the vein of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". OK, I'm quite fond of "Close Encounters", but I need a little more. This is director/writer/producer Eric Demeusy's first full-length. "Who's that?", you might be asking. Demuesy's background is in digital effects. IMDb says he created the opening sequence for the first two seasons of "Stranger Things". He directed a "Star Wars" short, and a short film called "Video" that I liked. NOW I'm interested in what's going on here. It has a value price point of $20, and nothing else is releasing this week. If you're into suspenseful sci-fi, then this looks to be in your sweet spot.

July 14

Hell, yeah! It's time for a Hammer vampire movie! And not just any ol' Hammer vampire movie; it's a SEXY Hammer vampire movie! 1963's "Kiss of the Vampire" was released as a Region B Blu-ray a few years back, but this Collector's Edition is stuffed to the gills with hot vampire/newlywed action. I watched a dubbed VHS of this a million years ago, and saw a lot of similarities between this and "Rocky Horror Picture Show"...minus the song and dance, obviously. The end of the movie is kind of nuts, featuring a swarm of bats from Hell. Like last year's "Lust for a Vampire" release, you get both a 1.66:1 and a 1.85:1 2K restoration of the film, along with separate commentaries on each aspect ratio, and the TV cut ("Kiss of Evil") which also gets its own commentary. The new cover art looks slick, and a preorder via SF gets an 18"x24" poster of the cover. Approved!

Shout Select has a reissue of Ron Howard's mystery/Western from 2003 "The Missing" coming out on the 14th. I don't remember this having any impact on me when it came out in theatres, and there hasn't been a Ron Howard movie I've been happy with since..."Parenthood"? But there's one reason why I'm interested in checking this out eventually. There's an extra on the SF page entitled "The Short Films of Ron Howard". I WILL cosign his early films; everything up through "Parenthood" is rewatchable and has a great sense of fun. So I'm intrigued by what that feature is.

For those of you interested, "The Missing" comes in two versions on this edition: the theatrical release, and an extended cut with 17 minutes of extra footage and commentary by Howard. Hell, any movie with Cate Blanchett, Tommy Lee Jones, Rachel Evan Wood, and Val Kilmer can't be that bad. Right?

July 21

Did you know Marcel Marceau, before becoming synonymous with mime, fought the Nazis as a member of the French Resistance in World War II? It sounds made up, but it's true. And now there's a movie about it. In "Resistance", Jesse Eisenberg plays Marceau, Ed Harris plays George S. Patton, Matthias Schweighöfer plays Klaus Barbie. I watched the trailer for this a while back, and was a little underwhelmed. I'm a sucker for any Jewish resistance movie: historical, exploitation, whatever. So I'll probably check this out in the future. It's another in the series of IFC/Shout! Factory releases, which leads to a bare-bones physical release. Just about every sentence I've typed in this paragraph feels super weird and unbelievable, like a fever dream, or macrodosing.

From the ridiculous to the sublime: Shout! Factory is finally releasing a complete series box set of "Northern Exposure". Back in the day, CBS actually aired shows that were quirky and appealed to people outside the 55+ demographic. "Northern Exposure" was my favorite. It's a show about misfits and fish out of water and the embracing of eccentricity, all set in a fictional town in Alaska. The first woman I ever dated regularly and I would call each other and watch this in our respective bedrooms. It was a sweet and innocent time for me, long before I became Ape Mummy. This was a good-ass show, winning the Emmy for Best Dramatic Series in 1992, and keeping me on the lookout for cheap copies since 2000.

Now, you may say, "But, Ape. I see this all the time at thrift stores for $4. Why should I pick this up?" If you look closer, you'll notice that you see a lot of Season 1 and 2, but none of Seasons 5 & 6. How are you supposed to know how things turn out for Dr. Joel Fleischman? I imagine the extras remain the same from the single season releases; the standard deleted scenes, gag reels, and what not. It also doesn't look like this is available to stream anywhere, so, yeah, give it a go. If you haven't seen it, you won't regret watching it.

July 28

There's a trio of horror coming to wrap up July. First up is a Collector's Edition of 2001's "Thirteen Ghosts", or "Thir13en Ghosts", if you're in a nu-metal band or a Silver Pictures marketing maven. Look, I didn't give a shit about this in 2001; I don't care about it now. I'd much rather go back to the original William Castle movie from 1959, or revisit "House on Haunted Hill", released by the same production team two years before. This release has a number of new extras that weren't available on the previous Warner Home Video release. Director Steve Beck recorded a brand-new commentary track, and there's an interview with Shannon Elizabeth, who I thought had retired from acting to play poker competitively. You're either already super hyped for this release, or you're like me. Thankfully, I've done the hard introspection for all of us, and now you don't have to overthink not getting this. That is a dope looking cover, tho.

Thankfully, there's a Blu-ray release of Roman Polanski's "The Tenant" to check out this week. It's the final film in his "Apartment Trilogy", as well as the last film he made before permanently leaving the United States for Europe. Based on the book by French polymath Roland Topor, this is a Kafkaesque psychological horror film that's grown in stature over time, despite Polanski's fugitive status and decline in public appreciation. This movie is dark and paranoid in a way that too few films are. When I first saw it, I observed a number of similarities in tone to "The Shining". It blurs reality, fantasy, madness, and the supernatural for its characters. As you'd expect, there are a wealth of special features here, including an interview with Polanski himself, an archival featurette with Topor, and a commentary track featuring critics Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson. If you pick one new release up this month, make it this one. This is a prime film nerd title.

Last, but not least, is a reissue of 1990's "Graveyard Shift". When it was initially announced, I wondered why I'd never seen this, especially in light of my opinion of the source material. It's one of my favorite Stephen King short stories. The film, however, came out in that weird time when I was just starting to get into horror, but my parents wouldn't let me watch anything R-rated. Add to that a very culty cast, and a director making his first and only film, and I guess it makes sense why this fell below my radar. Anyway, if you're bummed out by rats, I guessing this isn't going to be your cuppa. The extras on this release are relatively bare bones: you get a few interviews with the cast and director. If you're a King adaptation completist (and I know you exist out there), then this will be a welcome addition in hi-def.

So what did we learn today? Well, I think I'm just going to snag "The Tenant" as a preorder. I can hold off on the "Northern Exposure" complete series and "Kiss of the Vampire" for now; they're both perfect sale titles. August has a lot more of what I'm looking for, including the first release of "Swallow", a pair of Miyazaki steelbooks, more Hammer horror, and the latest Universal Horror collection. See you back here in 30.