This week’s Nostalgia Nightmare involves Saint Mort cracking down a list of 10 movies that desperately need to be on DVD/Blu-Ray as well as two movies that I want to see made available on these formats… but I’m sure no one else does. Let’s start the countdown!
In recent years there’s been an underground movement of VHS collectors. The movement was popular
enough to get not one but two documentaries (Adjust Your Tracking and Rewind This). While some
people write this off as “hipster bullshit,” what they fail to see is that people are collecting these VHS
tapes is because it’s the only way they’re able to see some of their favorite films.
These films are classics (in their own right) but have yet to see the light of Blu-Ray, and many of them have just barely received a DVD release. One of the weirdest moments in organizing this list was knowing that I was going to make Society my number 1 only to discover that next month we’re finally getting a double disc release. Here’s 10 films we all hope will get a Blu-Ray/DVD release (and 2 that only I hope for).
10. The Mutilator
Right off the bat… The Mutilator is not a good movie. It’s easily the worst film on this list. During the peak of the slasher bomb in the 80’s tons of low-budget horror films got quick and easy VHS releases. The Mutilator was just one of the many to come out but its incredible VHS cover made it more memorable than the others.
9. Fright Night 2
I thought for sure that with the release of the Fright Night remake that we’d finally get a Fright Night 2 release. But it never came. The movie was briefly on DVD which most used copies going for $40+ on sites like Amazon and eBay. Fright Night 2 is a fun movie, but it’s not $40 fun. It’d be nice to get a good solid release of this entertaining sequel.
8. Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park
This is a pipe dream wish for a lot of people. It was VERY briefly released on DVD and now goes for $40 on used DVD traders. The chances of this coming out are slim. The members of KISS (usually known for grabbing at any cash-in possible) have very actively tried to make sure this movie is wiped from the world’s memory banks. Sorry guys, but you can’t just forget a TV Movie that plays out like an episode of Scooby-Doo starring Kiss.
7. Tales from the Hood
Anthology films are tough. Usually the best you can get is 50% of the stories being good. I can’t even think of how many anthology films I’ve owned simply because of one really great story. Even when the stories are pretty decent the movie has painfully bad wrap-arounds. Tales from the Hood is the exception to the rule. Not only does it have a brilliantly crafted wrap-around story but each individual story is smart, satirical and spooky. However after its first DVD release it fell out of print and has yet to be saved. While not as pricey as Fright Night or Kiss a used copy will still run you $25-$30 and that’s for a very bare-bones DVD. I’d love for someone like Scream Factory to give this movie the beautiful Blu-Ray release it deserves.
6. Mr. T’s Be Somebody… or Be Somebody’s Fool
I spent a long time trying to decide if I wanted to go with this Mr. T special about self-esteem or the classic anti-drug PSA Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue. I decided to go with the more absurd of the two (of course Cartoon All-Stars is an honorable mention). This Mr. T special has a ton of classic moments (including a charming rap song about mothers) but my favorite segment has always been “Recoup” which is 2 minutes of Mr. T-isms that you and your friends won’t be able to not quote.
5. The Applegates
The Applegates (also known as Meet The Applegates) is a bizarre movie. It was Michael Lehmann’s very unsuccessful follow up to Heathers. It tells of a family of shift-shaping Giant Praying Mantis’ that disguise themselves as a typical American family in hopes of creating a nuclear holocaust leaving only bugs to role the world. It’s got a pretty impressive cast, some biting social commentary, some laugh out loud moments and it’s a genuine shame that the film is yet to get a proper DVD/Blu-Ray release.
4. Suburbia
Richard Linklater is one of my favorite directors. He shines when he’s making dialogue heavy films be it the experimental Slacker, the nostalgic Dazed and Confused or the romantic Before Trilogy. Suburbia was Linklater’s adaptation of a play about Generation X and in a lot of ways it’s probably his best film. Everyone (Linklater included) wants to see this movie get a proper release but for some reason we always get hints and promises followed by nothing.
3. Arena
If you grew up on the early days of HBO, Showtime and Cinemax then you know Arena. It’s that film that can only be described as Rocky in outer space. It’s an underdog story of a human being fighting his way up the Intergalactic Boxing ranks. Every so often this film will pop up on instant watch and it was made available as part of a 4 movies on one disc release but this movie deserves its own special Scream Factory treatment.
2. Dead of Night
Dead of Night may be one of the most popular and cliche’d movie titles in horror history. There’s at least 6 movies that are (or were) titled this at one point or another. But the original (and arguably best) of the Dead of Night movies is the 1945 anthology film. The whole film is worth your attention for the final story The Ventriloquists Dummy. It’s a story you’ve heard before (a puppeteer and his dummy… is the dummy alive) but this was the telling of the story that set the standard for all to follow. The film has been praised repeatedly and constantly ranked one of the greatest horror movies ever made and yet it’s still not received the Blu-Ray/DVD release every horror buff knows it deserves.
1. Fade To Black
This is one of the most unique takes on the slasher genre. Pushed to the edge a young film-buff takes his revenge on the people who torture by becoming the villains of his favorite movies. He dresses himself up as Dracula, the Mummy and countless others and kill all those who wrong him. Meanwhile he’s in love with a girl who looks exactly like Marilyn Monroe. It was released on DVD by Anchor Bay in 1999 but now the cheapest copy is a used double feature release for $60+ used. I imagine that the biggest hold up on this cult classic getting the release it deserves is the countless clips from other films scattered all over it.
Beyond these 10 great films that I’m sure everyone would love, there are two movies that desperately need to get re-released on DVD for a customer of one… me.
Alligator 2 – The first Alligator movie is one of my favorite films of all time. I adore every weird second of it. I grew up watching both movies repeatedly on a VHS tape. It saddens me that Alligator 2 isn’t available on DVD (despite how lackluster it might be)
Special Dead – Not many people know of Special Dead and that’s a pity because it’s a genuinely hilarious movie. It’s about a group of special needs kids on a camping trip forced to fight off a horde of Zombies. it’s a small but funny little indie film. Sadly if you (or more important if I) want to own it you better have $4,000 because that’s what the used copies are going for online right now.
Honorable Mentions: The Brain, Invasion of the Saucer Men, Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, The Star Wars Holiday Special, Possession, The Poughkeepsie Tapes and Noroi: The Curse