January 8, 2019: This Week on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD
Kicking off the new year is the recent big screen horror release, Hellfest. What happens when a masked serial killer decides to turn a horror-themed amusement park into his own personal killing ground? Find out in the bloody thriller from Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension director Gregory Plotkin.
With his directorial debut, Mid90s, Jonah Hill brings to the screen his own original screenplay about a young teen whose world begins to open up when he begins to interact with older kids who hang around a nearby skate park. The coming of age tale stars Sunny Suljic, who previously appeared in Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer.
Easily among the greatest romantic comedies of all time, Rob Reiner’s When Harry Met Sally gets a full on special edition this week, thanks to Shout! Factory and their Shout! Select line. The release boasts a new transfer, restored from a 4K scan of the original camera negative, alongside newly produced bonus content, including new interviews with Reiner and star Billy Crystal.
You can check out two of the film’s most iconic scenes in the players below:
Also from Shout! Factory, Joel Schumacher’s 1999 crime thriller 8mm celebrates its 20th anniversary with a special edition blu-ray release. Nicolas Cage stars as a private detective whose case brings him face to face with the disturbing world of snuff films. The film also boasts an impressive supporting cast with roles for Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare and Catherine Keener.
Warner Archive turns back the clock to 1993’s ensemble crime thriller Judgment Night. Stephen Hopkins directs Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Denis Leary as a group of young men who wind up witnessing a murder. The film lands on Blu-ray for the first time this week.
The Criterion Collection this week bids a sad farewell to Abbas Kiarostami. 24 Frames marks the final work from the Iranian director, offering 24 different 4 1/2 minute shots that, combined, offer an intangible narrative that, in full Kiarostami tradition, plays by its own set of rules. 24 Frames is the fifth Kiarostami film to join the collection, following Blu-rays of Close-up, Certified Copy and Like Someone in Love and, currently on DVD only, Taste of Cherry.
Legendary B-movie director Albert Pyun offers a tale of cyborg police officers in a futuristic Los Angeles. His 1992 sci-fi actioner Nemesis gets the special edition treatment from the MVD Rewind Collection.
Kino Lorber has a double helping of vintage horror this week. 1969’s What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? stars Geraldine Page as an aging widow with a terrifying secret while 1970’s The House that Would Not Die has Barbara Stanwyck facing off against ghosts from the Revolutionary War.
There are some scares in store when it comes to this week’s small screen releases. Look for the first seasons of both Castle Rock and The Purge. The former creates an all new world inspired by the vast multiverse that is Stephen King’s bibliography. The latter returns viewers to the dystopian world of the hit Blumhouse franchise, revealing a world where, on one day a year, all crime is legal.
Silas Lesnick is the Senior Editor of Moviebill. He has been covering entertainment news out of Los Angeles for more than a decade. You can reach him via e-mail or on Twitter.
