Testimony of Evil

By: Brian Thomas
Date: Tuesday, November 07, 2006

You may note, as I have, that todays list contains an inordinate number of double, triple, quadruple and quintuple feature sets. I can only assume that this represents an effort on the part of the studios to get gift-ready bargain sets into stores in time for holiday gift guides and the unfortunately inevitable Thanksgiving weekend shopping orgy. In any case, it’s a chance to load up on older features for less dough – and who hates that? Who wouldn’t want the Poison Ivy trilogy in their Christmas stocking?

SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK

This week, our spotlight falls on the long-awaited DVD debut of a TV legend.

(O) POLICE SQUAD Complete Series (Paramount) Leslie Nielsen in the short lived but incredibly funny TV series that inspired the Naked Gun movies. Includes all six episodes, commentrak, gag reel, interview, featurettes, auditions and more.

NEW RELEASES

ARK II Complete Series
© BCI Eclipse

(O) ARK II Complete Series (BCI Eclipse) Juvenile 1976 TV series in which three young scientists and a chimp roam across a post-apoc world in the goofy vehicle from Damnation Alley. 15 episodes on three discs.
(O) ATTACK 3-pack (Fox) Action box includes Kiss of the Dragon, Predator and Commando.
(O) THE BEST OF TROMADANCE FILM FESTIVAL Volume 5 (Troma) Best shorts from the 2006 Tromadance Film Festival.
(O) THE BIG STAMPEDE / RIDE HIM COWBOY / HAUNTED GOLD (Warner Bros.) John Wayne triple bill.
(O) THE BLUE MAX (Fox) John Guillermin’s unusual 1966 war flick tells the story of a WWI flying ace played by George Peppard.
(O) THE CHAIRMAN (Fox) 1969 J. Lee Thonpson espionage epic has Gregory Peck as a Nobel laureate coerced into a spying mission to Red China – with a failsafe bomb in his head.
(O) CLASSIC FILM NOIR Volume 2 (St. Clair) 3-disc set presents a fine lineup of Jigsaw, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, He Walked By Night, Quicksand, The Big Bluff, Kansas City Confidential, Port of New York, The Scar and The Stranger. However, St. Clair’s previous collections suffer from some of the worst video transfers I’ve ever seen, so don’t get too excited.
(O) COLT 45 / FORT WORTH / TALL MAN RIDING (Warner Bros.) Randolph Scott western triple bill.
DIVER DAN
© Alpha
(O) DIVER DAN (Alpha) 15 episodes of the 1961 syndicated kids puppet adventure comedy serial about a deep sea diver and his underwater pals. Delayed from last month.
(O) DOCTOR WHO: The Hand of Fear (BBC) Episode 87 from 1976 with Tom Baker.
(O) DOCTOR WHO: The Mark of the Rani (BBC) Episode 140 from 1985 with Colin Baker.
DOCTOR WHO Series 1 Volume 1 (BBC) From 2005: “Rose”, “The End of the World” and “Unquiet Dead”.
DOCTOR WHO Series 1 Volume 2 (BBC) “Aliens of London”, “World War Three” and “Dalek”.
DOCTOR WHO Series 1 Volume 3 (BBC) “Long Game”, “Father’s Day”, “Empty Child” and “The Doctor Dances”.
DOCTOR WHO Series 1 Volume 4 (BBC) “Boom Town”, “Bad Wolf” and “The Parting of the Ways”.
(O) ECCO / THE FORBIDDEN (Image) Two rare mid-1960s mondo documentaries coutesy of Something Weird Video, plus sexploitation shorts.
THE FALLEN IDOL (Criterion) 1948 Carol Reed suspense classic, plus documentary, press book and more.
THE FINAL DAYS OF PLANET EARTH (Echo Bridge) Daryl Hannah battles big bugs that threaten the end of the world.
THE FOUNTAINHEAD (Warner Bros.) King Vidor’s over-the-top 1949 adaptation of Ayn Rand’s novel of indivualism at all costs starring Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal. Includes Making-Of.
FREAK-OUT (Anchor Bay) Horror fan tries to turn harmless escaped mental patient into a psycho killer. With commentrak, featurettes, music video, deleted fotage and more.
THE FOREST
© Code Red
THE FOREST (Code Red/Media Blasters) 1982 cannibal psycho vs. campers tale. Don’t go in the woods!
(O) FREE LOVE CONFIDENTIAL / FOR SWINGERS ONLY (Image) Swingin’ ‘60s sexploitation double bill from Something Weird Video.
GARY COOPER SIGNATURE COLLECTION (Warner Bros.) Includes The Fountainhead, Dallas, Sergeant York, Springfield Rifle and Wreck of the Mary Deare.
THE GIRL FROM CALGARY (Alpha) French Canadian singing cowgirl Fifi D’Orsay knocks ‘em dead on Broadway in this semi-autobiographical 1932 feature.
(O) THE GREAT RUPERT (Image) 1950 family film produced by George Pal features Jimmy Durante as a destitute vaudeville performer whose life is changed by a magical stop-motion squirrel.
(O) GROUNDED FOR LIFE Season 4 (Anchor Bay) Another season of fine sitcom fun with the Finnertys.
(O) HARUM SCARUM / SPEEDWAY / TROUBLE WITH GIRLS (Warner Bros.) Elvis Presley 3-pack.
(O) HELLBOUND / HITMAN / FORCED VENGEANCE (Warner Bros.) Chuck Norris triple feature that is ahead in all Congressional races today.
(O) HORROR CONVENTION MASSACRE (Old School Sinema) Indie feature about a psychopath stalking a con, available direct from www.OldSchoolCinema.com .
(O) INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO: Dave Chappelle (Shout Factory) The Emmy nominated interview. Most of these IAS DVDS are planned to include unaired interview footage.
(O) INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO: Icons (Shout Factory) The Icons include Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Barbara Streisand. 4 episodes on 3 discs.
(O) ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU / DARK CITY / THE HIDDEN (Warner Bros.) Horror hodge-podge 3-pack.
(O) IT’S ALIVE / IT’S ALIVE 2 / IT’S ALIVE 3: ISLAND OF THE ALIVE (Warner Bros.) Complete Larry Cohen mutant trilogy.
(O) JAMES BOND ULTIMATE COLLECTION Volume 1 (MGM) Taking advantage of the new 007 flick Casino Royale, MGM re-releases their excellent Bond DVDs through new distributor Fox. Includes Goldfinger, The World is Not Enough, Diamonds Are Forever, The Man With the Golden Gun and The Living Daylights.
(O) JAMES BOND ULTIMATE COLLECTION Volume 2 (MGM) This box includes Thunderball, Die Another Day, The Spy Who Loved Me, A View To A Kill and License to Kill.
(O) JEKYLL + HYDE (Lionsgate) A couple experiments with a new personality-altering drug.
JOHN WAYNE TRIPLE FEATURE Volume 1 (Alpha) Includes Star Packer, Sagebrush Trail and Rainbow Valley.
(O) JOHN WAYNE TRIPLE FEATURE Volume 2 (Alpha) Includes Paradise Canyon, Randy Rides Alone and Winds of the Wasteland.
(O) JOHN WAYNE TRIPLE FEATURE Volume 3 (Alpha) Includes Frontier Horizon, The Lawless Frontier and West of the Divide.
(O) JOHN WAYNE TRIPLE FEATURE Volume 4 (Alpha) Includes Riders of Destiny, The Lawless Range and Texas Terror.
(O) JOHN WAYNE TRIPLE FEATURE Volume 5 (Alpha) Includes The Desert Trail, The Dawn Rider and ‘Neath the Arizona Skies.
(O) JUNGLE GIRLS PACK (Media Blasters) 3-pack of Diamonds of Kilimanjaro, Golden Temple Amazons and Amazonia.
(O) LETHAL WEAPON 1-3 (Warner Bros.)
(O) LIES & DECEPTION Box Set (Fox) This box is actually empty, and doesn’t contain True Lies, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Entrapment and Black Widow.
LITTLE MAN
© Sony
(O) LITTLE MAN (Sony) Marlon Wayans, through the miracle of CGI, plays a midget jewel thief who goes undercover as a baby to retrieve a lost gem. I can only hope that the next time Wayans auditions for a part, they tell him, “You’re great, but we decided to cast a funny midget in the role and make him your size via CGI.” Includes commentraks, Making-Of featurettes and more.
(O) A MAN APART / BOILER ROOM . KNOCKAROUND GUYS (New Line) Vin Diesel triple bill.
(O) THE MAN BEHIND THE GUN / THUNDER OVER THE PLAINS / RIDING SHOTGUN (Warner Bros.) Randolph Scott western triple bill.
(O) MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS (Genius) Laurel & Hardy in a 1934 musical fairy tale.
(O) MEN BEHAVING BADLY (BBC) New releases from the BBC sitcom include Series 5, Series 6, the Best-Of collection Last Call and the big fat Complete Collection.
(O) THE MOVIE HERO (Anchor Bay) An eccentric young man believes he’s a star and his life is a movie in this 2003 comedy. Includes commentrak.
(O) NIGHT OF TERROR (Echo Bridge) Thriller seemingly based on the third act of Cape Fear.
(O) A PERFECT MURDER / MURDER BY NUMBERS / MURDER IN THE FIRST (Warner Bros.) Homocide triple bill.
(O) POISON IVY / POISON IVY 2 / POISON IVY 3: THE NEW SEDUCTION (Warner Bros.) Itchy trilogy.
(O) POT ZOMBIES (Troma) A new breed of weed gives smokers cannibalistic munchies. Believe it or not, it’s been done before.
(O) THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM (Fox) 1966 espionage thriller with George Segal, Alec Guinness, Senta Berger, Max von Sydow and George Sanders. Includes commentrak.
(O) SADDLES, SALOONS & SIX-SHOOTERS: THE WILD WESTERNS COLLECTION (Passport) 14 features span seven decades of screen sagebrush action from The Great Train Robbery through One-Eyed Jacks.
THE SEDUCTION
© Anchor Bay
(O) THE SEDUCTION (Anchor Bay) Unintentionally campy 1982 thriller stars Morgan Fairchild as a TV newswoman stalked by psycho fan Andrew Stevens. Includes commentrak and featurettes.
(O) SEXY STORYBOOK COLLECTION 2 (Image) Something Weird box set includes the semi-literate adaptations The Erotic Adventures of Zorro, Trader Hornee, The Adult Version of Jekyll & Hyde, Sinderella & the Golden Bra, Goldilocks & the 3 Bares, The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill and The Head Mistress.
(O) SHADOWBOXER (Vivendi) Cuba Gooding Jr. crime thriller.
(O) SHOCKWAVE (Lionsgate) Killer military robots run amok!
(O) THE SOPRANOS Season 6 Part 1 (HBO) Includes commentraks and a video game Making-Of.
(O) STROKER ACE / HOOPER / SHARKY’S MACHINE (Warner Bros.) Burt Reynolds gum-smackin’ triple bill.
(O) TOTALLY AWESOME (Paramount) Chris Kattan, Tracy Morgan, Dominique Swain and Ben Stein star in a zany spoof of 1980s pop culture and fashions. Includes commentrak, deleted footage, bloopers, interview, outtakes and more.
(O) SWORDS & SORCERY (St. Clair) 3-disc set packs in The Blade Master, The Magic Sword, Goliath & the Dragon, Hercules Against the Moon Men, Sword of Lancelot, Fire Monster vs. the Son of Hercules, The Witch’s Curse, Medusa Against the Son of Hercules and The Magic Serpent.
(O) TELEGRAPH TRAIL / SOMEWHERE IN SENORA / THE MAN FROM MONTEREY (Warner Bros.) John Wayne triple bill.
(O) TERRY & THE PIRATES Volumes 1-3 (Alpha) Comic-strip based 1952 TV series.
(O) TORA! TORA! TORA! (Fox) Massive 1970 internationally produced epic on the Pearl Harbor attack.
(O) TOTALLY AWESOME (Paramount) Comedy set in 190-something. Includes commentrak, deleted footage,
(O) THE ULTIMATE BOB HOPE COLLECTION (BCI Eclipse) Inc;udes Lemon Drop Kid, Road To Rio, The Great Lover, Son of Paleface, Road to Bali, Seven Little Foys, Paris Holiday, Private Navy Of Sgt. O’Farrell, How to Commit Marriage and My Favorite Brunette.
(O) THE ULTIMATE FLINT COLLECTION (Fox) 2-pack of Our Man Flint and In Like Flint.
(O) ULTIMATE SHERLOCK HOLMES TV (St. Clair) 27 episodes of the 1950s series on three discs.
(O) ULTRAMAN Series 1 Volume 2 (BCI Eclipse) More of the classic 1960s Japanese giant superhero series.
(O) THE WATER MARGIN (Image) 1972 martial arts classic from the Shaw Bros. studio.
(O) WORLD DESTRUCTION Box Set (Fox) Includes Independence Day, Day After Tomorrow, Volcano and Chain Reaction.
(O) ZEIRAM (Media Blasters) Special edition of the Japanese sci-fi action flick.

BLU-RAY DISC CORNER

(O) BLACK HAWK DOWN (Sony) Includes 3 commentraks, documentary featurettes and more.
(O) LITTLE MAN (Sony)
(O) NACHO LIBRE (Paramount) With featurettes, deleted footage and more.
(O) REDS (Paramount) Includes featurettes, vintage propaganda shorts and more.

HD-DVD CORNER

(O) NACHO LIBRE (Paramount) With featurettes, deleted footage and more.
(O) REDS (Paramount) Includes featurettes, vintage propaganda shorts and more.
(O) SISTER STREET FIGHTER (BCI Eclipse)

And be sure to check back next week—and every week—for Mania’s DVD Shopping List! And don’t forget Anime Avalanche every Saturday!

Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at DVD Shopping List.

Testimony of Evil

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