FRED Entertainment

PAWTUCKET, RI – While various media sources mourned the death of Saturday morning cartoons, few seemed to notice the end of The Hub.

What was The Hub? After decades of hearing parents whine about toy companies turning Saturday mornings into their catalogs, Hasbro took over its own cable channel to highlight all their wonderful toys in action for 24 hours 7 days a week. For three years, Hub was the source for My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Littlest Pet Shop, G.I. Joe and Transformers. All the toys that I’ve stepped on since my daughter doesn’t get the concept of toys wanting to sleep in their toy house. The channel finally gave The Aquabats a TV series. And The Aquabats TV show was truly the lovechild of The Monkees and Ultraman. They even revived The Animaniacs so new generation could try to takeover the world. Hasbro launched Family Game Night which turned their line of Parker Brothers board games into a new Price Is Right. And now The Hub is gone.

What went wrong? Supposedly there’s just way too many channels aimed at kids. There seems to be at least a dozen variations of Disney and Nickelodeon on the cable box. In my area, the Hub was on an upper tier. But that didn’t prevent kids from going crazy over the new version of My Little Pony. It does sting that they had a channel that didn’t merely run the same repeats as every other channel with one or two original shows to give it identity. Can anyone really tell FXX and Esquire apart with the bug in the corner?

The channel hasn’t entirely vanished. Hasbro sold back the controlling share to their partner Discovery. It’s now known as Discovery Family which sounds about as fun and entertaining as “Your Great Aunt Wants To See You!” And not the fun great aunt who blows your mind with tales of doing too much acid in San Francisco and hooking up with the roadies from the Jefferson Airplane. This is the great aunt who gives you slacks with Bible verses along the zipper to shame you into peeing while sitting down. Discovery Family is still running most of the same shows as The Hub. But as my daughter screamed, “That’s not The Hub!” It’s not as painful as the orbital decay and death of Trio, but it still stings.

BEST COUNTRY RECORD OF THE YEAR

In an odd twist, while Taylor Swift dumps country to embrace an ’80s pop sound, Sturgill Simpson turned an ’80s hit into a country classic. He gets underneath the slick veneer of When In Rome’s “The Promise.” Give it a listen and you’ll swear this was the original that was modernized all those decades ago.

Sturgill’s Metamodern Sounds in Country Music is a masterpiece of country music especially for people who don’t like the micro-oxygenated Nashville sound. A blissful mix of heartbreak, determination, nostalgia and now. He’s on tour this fall and early spring so get out there and soak in Metamoderness of Sturgill.

BLU-RAY HEAVEN

Maleficent is Disney’s reworking of Sleeping Beauty that gives quite a bit of sympathy to the evil Maleficent. She wasn’t born bad. Once upon a time she was a winged fairy who flew around the Moors. She had fallen madly in love with a boy named Stephan who ultimately betrays her. He severely stabs her in the back in order to get his name on the list of future King. When Stephan becomes King, he has a fancy party to celebrate the arrival of his daughter named Aurora. So now people understand why Maleficent had a serious issue with the King. But this isn’t merely a fairytale revenge flick with a real motivation. And there are liberties taken with the original Disney movie. Angelina Jolie is perfectly cast as Maleficent. She’s able to alter the mythology of the evil fairy who originally was seen as just ticked off that she didn’t get invited to a party. Elle Fanning holds down her part of the screen when faced with Angelina. Her Princess Aurora is doesn’t come off as snoozy. It’s good to see Sam Riley in a role that doesn’t make him a cult rock star out of Manchester. Far as reworked fairytales go, this one works for me and my daughter.

The Blu-ray comes with a DVD and a Digital HD access to the film. You can take this fairytale everywhere which is good news for a parent. The bonus features include plenty of deleted scenes. There’s short pieces about the special effects and reworking the story to give a little motivation for certain deeds. There’s a whole segment on the various head wraps that Maleficent wears. Here’s Elle Fanning talking about getting to be Aurora.

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks is a more musical sequel to last year’s Equestria Girls. The movie takes us back to the alternate universe where the Ponies look more like real girls even though they still have their various pony characteristics. Turns out there’s trouble in Canterlot high with a trio of musical gals who seem to feed off the anger of others. They’re called the Dazzlings. The Equestria Girls need help from Princess Twilight since they fear something is up with the Dazzlings. The normal school music night has been turned into a Battle of the Bands. If Princess Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and the other Equestria girls don’t win the musical competition, something evil might happen. This one features a lot of songs that are bound to get fans humming along. There’s demonic battle in the third act that frightened my daughter. The Blu-ray includes the DVD and a way to get a digital copy. There’s an audio commentary and six prequel shorts to set up the action. There’s even a sing-a-long for “Better Than Ever,” “Battle” and “Rainbooms Battle.” Here’s Josie’s reaction after seeing the film in the movie theater.

VINEGAR SYNDROME

Raw Force is a brilliant piece of out of control exploitation cinema. The film dares to unit the twin titans of grindhouse superstars Cameron Mitchell (Without Warning) and Vic Diaz (The Big Bird Cage). The Burbank Kung Fu Club is ready to go on a big adventure. They’re heading to Warrior Island in the Pacific. Why? Because according to legend, this is the burial ground of martial arts fighters who screwed up royally. What’s worse for these fatal fighters is that they’ve been brought back to life by cannibal monks. But even before the Club gets to their destination, there’s a lot of action on the high seas. First it’s a throwdown in the Philippines. Cameron Mitchell doesn’t perform his usual three day stint on the shoot. He’s here for the long haul. While on the sea, they get attacked by pirates in all out affair. There’s naked kung fu moments. Jillian Kessner of Firecracker fame plays a cop who uses more than her nightstick to subdue. The voyagers make it to Warrior Island. Little do they know what’s in store when they encounter a group of monks led by Vic Diaz. They are cannibals who only like young ladies. This is turning into the worst package cruise ever, but the most exciting exploitation film of 1982. The bonus features include a phone interview with Not of This Earth‘s Jim Wynorski about re-editing the film before release. Director Ed Murphy explains how he ended up at the helm of this masterpiece. Along with the Blu-ray is a DVD in case you want to watch this while on your own Kung Fu cruise.

Dracula Sucks is an all star version of the X-rated vampire film. This was what people watched before True Blood. Renfield has issues sleeping after the death of his father. So he’s checked into a clinic run by John Leslie and Kay Parker. While recovering, he’s lured to a nearby place to bring back Country Dracula Jamie Gillis) from the grave. Will the vampire suck the county dry? Along for the fun is Annetta Haven, John Holmes and Seka. That’s like an adult version of The Love Boat without pants. Strangely enough, Jaimi Gillis is more seductive with a full beard. The big bonus feature is the recut version that was shipped out as Lust at First Bite. This was put out to take advantage of the release of the more family friendly Love at First Bite mainstream vampire flick. It has a lot of alternate footage so you’re not merely watching a snipped R-rated version of the original. It’s more like a second and shorter pass at making the movie in post-production. An interesting note is that cinematographer Hanania Baer would be behind the camera for Elvira: Mistress of the Dark. Bill Mangold gives an audio commentary that sheds light on this vampire production.

Hot & Saucy Pizza Girls puts John Holmes in charge of the greatest pizza joint ever opened in 1978. He has an all girl staff that delivers hot pies using skateboards to speed up the process. What makes his operation the best in the area isn’t the crust, but the extras that the ladies deliver. Among Holmes staff is the innocent eyed Desiree Cousteau and Candida Royalle. The pizza place has its issues including staff stalkers. But that doesn’t stop Holmes and the ladies from serving up the best deep dish in the region. Along with the trailer is a revealing interview with producer Damon Christian. He tells an amazing story about how John Holmes burned down the pizza joint at the end of the shoot. There’s also tales from doing business with people that might be mobsters. Filmmaking students can learn a lot from Damon’s life experience making this Pizza Girls epic. They also have the trailer on the DVD.

Peekarama: Red Heat, The Mad Love Life of a Hot Vampire & Peeping Tom is a trio of adult action from director Ray Dennis Steckler. Most people would almost recognize the name since also made The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies which ended up on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. None of this films will be aired on basic cable. Red Heat is an adult murder mystery. While a crew is making an adult feature film, someone is snuffing the cast and Best Boys. It’s a naked Whodunit. Mad Love of a Hot Vampire is Dracula’s brides going out for a drink. But they don’t merely want to suck a few necks. Peeping Tom is about a peeping Tom. The big plus for this film is a lot of footage of early ’70s Las Vegas when the town was losing it’s sixties sheen and gaining that ’70s smut feel. These films carry Steckler’s normal production quality. They’re rather rough affairs. You won’t be seeing Tom Servo cracking wise in the bottom of the screen.

Peekarama: Carnal Haven & Her Lust Fling is another double feature from Carlos Tobalina. He was very prolific in an industry where you didn’t spend Kubrick time making a feature film. Carnal Haven is the classic approach to an adult filmmaking with the theme of education and therapy in order to save a marriage. Sharon Thorpe and Ken Scudder are the Masters and Johnson characters that run their specialized clinic. Their techniques have an amazing success rate. They even cure a couple where he’s a dog and she’s a drunk. How come Dr. Drew doesn’t teach the 69th Step on Couples Therapy? There’s quite a few stars including Joey Silvera, John Leslie and Desiree West. They all learn the secret of the Inca Knot. Her Last Fling is like a really dirty version of Love Story. Sandy Pinney gets the news that she’s got a terminal disease and there’s no hope. So what does she do? She blows her life savings and lives large in Las Vegas. She blows it all and a little more in a debaucherous time. But she also falls in love with a guy in the midst of her carnal cravings. How can she find love when there’s so little time left? Paul Thomas, Desiree West and Candida Royalle are part of this warped Make A Wish moment.

WEIRD AL-MANIA

UHF: 25th Anniversary Edition captures Weird Al Yankovic at his matinee best. He’s a loser with big dreams that won’t be fulfilled in the fast food industry. Through a twist of fate and a family connection, he gets hired to run a UHF station that’s considered the ratings loser in the market. They get constantly slaughtered by the huge network station run by Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Al revolutionizes the channel by refusing to compete with the big boys. Instead he comes up with the bizarre and freakish to lure views to channel 62. The first major change is by allowed the station’s janitor (Seinfeld‘s Michael Richards) to host a kiddie cartoon show. The janitor’s warped way of doing things immediately connects with kids and grown ups that are rather childish. This is just the launching point for other creative shows like Wheel of Fish that allows Gedde Watanabe to not merely be a dick joke in Sixteen Candles. How good is this film? You’ll ignore the fact that no man in his right mind would want to hook up with Victoria Jackson. Plus Fran Drescher’s voice isn’t so grating. The movie is a Weird Al overdose of spoofs and satires involving music, movies and TV. Al even does his best Sly. The Blu-ray is loaded with goodies. There’s the recent Weird Al panel at the San Diego Comic-con. It’s like being there without waiting six hours in line. There’s a bunch of deleted scenes although Al spares the ones that were extremely lame. They have the music video for the theme song. There’s lots of promotional materials including pictures of the VHS of UHF.

The Compleat Al was a great way for Weird Al to show off his beloved videos in 1985 under the guise of a bogus biography. This originally aired on Showtime as a special. It came out on VHS to the approval of geeks. But after being out of print since the 20th century, the DVD has arrived with all the nonsense, weirdness, tall tales and an occasional fact. This is more fun than Al’s Behind the Music special. The movie mixes real moments with things like Al’s performance at Monterey Pop that ended with his accordion on fire. We get the inside scoop from Doctor Demento. There’s even quite a few clips from his Al TV takeover of MTV. Al discusses his secret meeting with Michael Jackson that led to “Eat It” getting approval. Amongst the fun are Al’s early music videos including “Eat It,” “I Lost on Jeopardy,” “Like a Surgeon” and “Dare to Be Stupid.”

SCREAM FACTORY

The Doctor and the Devils brings together the unlikely talents of Mel Brooks, Dylan Thomas, Freddie Fisher and Timothy Dalton. The story is based on the morbid tale of Burke and Hare. These two gentlemen discovered amazing paydays in Edinburgh, Scotland. Future James Bond Timothy Dalton plays a doctor at a medical school that’s having a major crisis. There’s an overflow of anatomy students and a lack of corpses. He’s getting sick of cutting up farm animals during classes. Jonathan Pryce (Brazil) and Stephen Rea (The Crying Game) are two low lifes who hatch a plan to get rich by finding corpses to unload at the school. Trouble is that it’s hard to find people who are dead and want to donate their bodies to science. The duo decide to be self-starters and murder their future product. This leads to plenty of gruesome and comic moments. Dalton is torn with his new suppliers. His pal (Room With a View‘s Julian Sands) doesn’t trust him. But he can’t lose students to the rival med school run by Patrick Stewart (X-Men & ST:TNG). Things get extra touchy since Sands is hanging out with a hooker (Twiggy from The Muppet Show) so he gets to know way too much about how the bodies are being located. Where does Mel Brooks come into this? Turns out Mel produced it for his company. That wasn’t too outlandish a project since Mel had made David Lynch’s The Elephant Man. The Doctor‘s director Freddie Francis was the cinematographer for The Elephant Man. Freddie had also directed a few films for Hammer and Amicus so he understood completely how to make this movie appear a touch horrific yet classy. Sadly the film didn’t do amazingly well at the box office since none of these brilliant actors were major stars in 1985 except Twiggy. The bonus features include a 15 minute documentary where Mel Brooks explains how he put it together with the other producers. There’s an audio commentary with Steve Haberman discusses the historical facts of Burke and Hare along with all the movie factoids.

Monkey Shines was George Romero’s attempt to scare moviegoers with a living ape and not a bunch of zombies. Jason Beghe (Californication) is a fit type of guy who gets hit while jogging. This leaves him a quadriplegic. While he can operate his mechanical wheelchair, he needs help for simple things. Along with a nurse, he gets a trained monkey. The two bond fast. However their connection comes with a major price. Turns out the monkey is willing to do Jason’s worst desires. This includes going after his girlfriend (Northern Exposure‘s Janine Turner) among others. Can he stop the monkey? Can anyone believe this is happening? How can such a cute monkey be a rabid killer? Can the monkey take over Jason’s mind? It’s a film that remind you to be careful around service animals. The movie was met with a lot of resistance when it came out from people who dealt with monkey. In the interest of full disclosure, I used to work with executive producer Gerald S. Paonessa at the North Carolina School of the Arts. He brought George to the school where we talked about his films. George was quite shocked at the protests against the film. The bonus features cover this issue along with Romero’s battles with Orion executives. There’s a fine documentary that covers the entire film and its legacy. Romero gives an audio commentary that lets him say more about his movie. Along with deleted scenes, there’s the alternate ending that Orion used on a reissue to make up for them screwing up the original ending. While this isn’t a collector’s edition, it really is. You might not want to watch this with a monkey. You don’t want to give them any ideas.

The Dark Half brought together George Romero with Stephen King. The duo created a movie about a man with dual identities. Timothy Hutton seems to be a likable kinda guy. He has a family. He teaches at a college and he writes a book or two. Turns out Hutton wrote a few more books under the name George Stark. He decides to stop writing as Stark and even hosts a fake burial for the fake writer. Except out from the grave comes the real Stark. He’s not happy that he’s been killed. He’s ready to get his revenge on Hutton. Hutton is great as both the sincere nice guy and the extra slimey Stark. Romero told a group of us that when they made the movie, Hutton had two different trailers to use depending on which character he was playing that day. He really got into the Stark mode. Stark’s trailer was constantly trashed. He even had his girlfriend (one of those 3 named actresses from the ’90s) show up dressed in hooker garb when he was in Stark mode. It helped Hutton’s performance so this method weirdness was worth it. The bonus features include a commentary track from Romero. There’s a documentary that covers the troubled productions. Romero talks about having to alter the ending because the birds weren’t being cooperative. There’s deleted scenes, the original electronic press kit and the storyboards. Once more a collector’s edition from Scream Factory in all, but package art.

Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings is the unexpected sequel to Stan Winston’s original horror film. The original didn’t do too well in theatrical release, but was a good renter in the age of video. Thus is made sense for a producer to crank out a straight to VHS sequel. Back when there were videostores in the mid-90s, people would pick up the sequels when they were having movie nights. Whether it be Jaws, Godfather or Where the Boys Aren’t, renting a pile of the same films was not unusual. So Stan Winston’s monster was brought back to life with Jeff Burr directing. The new cast does not resemble the old one. They went extra young on this one with Amy Dolenz (The Monkees‘s daughter) and Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster) in the leads. They’re running with some bad boys of the ’90s. The kids get in trouble and stupidly use the magic to revive a woman not knowing about Pumpkinhead. The creatures arises and has a field day with the new breed. The film was released straight to VHS and even the DVD was full frame. But now you can see it properly framed for 1.85:1. Director Burr’s commentary explains how the production was in full motion by the time he was hired. “Recreating the Monster” as the effects crew discuss working with Pumpkinhead. There’s behind the scenes footage that’s mostly interviews. This is a fun addition to have next to Scream Factory’s Pumpkinhead Blu-ray.

Nightbreed:The Director’s Cut allowed Clive Barker the chance to finally release the version of his 1990 horror film that was butchered by the studio. This isn’t merely extra footage, but entire scenes were recut with alternate takes. It’s not the film you saw on VHS back in 1992. Enjoy.

DVD SHELF

Sgt. Bilko, The Phil Silvers Show: The Complete Series finally delivers all the greatness that was the ultimate hustler show. All four seasons are finally in one boxset so I no longer have to set the DVR to record the show in the wee hours on Me-TV. The glory of Phil Silvers is here for all to worship. His Sgt. Bilko character remains the greatest hustler in the history of the world. Even stuck on a remote base in Kansas, Bilko schemed to control the world and take every penny from his privates. Why? Because if he didn’t, someone worse would rip them off. The show set the tone for military comedies to come. If your only exposure to Bilko is that crappy Steve Martin movie, you have been ripped off. Sit back and enjoy the blissful greatness of Bilko. There are a lot of bonus features including vintage interviews with Phil Silvers. His daughters talk about growing up with a man considered a comic genius who wasn’t a comedian. There’s various specials including an episode of the short lived The New Phil Silvers Show.

The Unauthorized Saved By The Bell Story is tawdry TV biopic madness at its prime. What happens when you give a bunch of hormonally amped up teens their own show, money and attention? A parents nightmare and a viewers dream is what you get. The best part of the film is that you get all the tales of Dustin Diamond without actually having to experience the real Dustin Diamond. The production goes into overdrive with the late ’80s fashions. It’s like an MTV Music Awards exploded on this cast. I’m now awaiting The Untold Hangtime since rumors about that show had most of the cast driving hard on each other.

M Squad: The Complete TV Series – Special Edition is what made Lee Marvin a TV badass before he made the leap to cinema. He plays Lt. Frank Ballinger of the Chicago police’s murder investigation unit. Thus the “M.” He’s completely no nonsense during his investigations. But unlike Dragnet, when Frank meets with resistance, he’ll rough up a suspect. The series ran on NBC from 1957 to 1960. Count Basie ended up doing a swingin’ theme song. There’s a great jazz vibe to the soundtrack to give Frank a sophisticated edge. The boxset has all 117 episodes of gunshots, corpses and intrigue. The Besides Lee Marvin there were guest appearances from cinema tough guys James Coburn, Charles Bronson and Burt Reynolds. The black and white action and Pall Mall cigarettes give it a fine film noir atmosphere. This is a perfect boxset to have with Peter Gunn, The Naked City and Mike Hammer. What’s interesting is that M Squad is what got spoofed into Police Squad! The theme music, the opening credits, the monologue and Marvin’s character being named Frank all played into the short-lived comedy. The bonus DVD features Marvin’s guest spots on Wagon Train, Checkmate, The Virginian and Lee Marvin Presents Lawbreaker.

Annie Oakley: The Complete Series is a touch of classic cowboy action that ran from 1954 to 1957 in syndication. The series wasn’t completely based on the Wild West legend. This Annie Oakley played by Gail Davis isn’t on the road with adventure shows showing off her sharp shooting skills. She’s a good natured gal with pigtails and a few six-shooters. She lives with her brother Tagg (Jimmy Hawkins) and their uncle Deputy Sheriff Lofty Craig. Like all good western characters, Annie had a great horse named Target. Most of the action had her helping out her uncle when it comes to keeping the area safe for law-abiding citizens. Easy to imagine my nana getting into this show when she finally got a television in the house. There’s plenty of great guest stars on the 81 episodes. Alan Hale Jr (the Skipper on Gilligan’s Island) L.Q. Jones (The Wild Bunch), James Best (Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane on Dukes of Hazzard), Denver Pyle, Fess Parker, Slim Pickens and Keye Luke all got to ride around with Annie. What makes this collection great and worth grabbing for you TV western lovin’ loved ones is the bonus features that give the show a complete sense of context. The bonus features include the commercials from when the show was sponsored by Wonder Bread and Twinkies. “Pig-tails and Six-shooters” breaks down how the series brought a woman into the TV westerns. They have an audio interview with star Gail Davis. There’s a montage of all the Annie Oakley toys and coloring books that came out during the run. She was the Dora the Explorer of her time.

Quncy, M.E.: Season 7 is the penultimate release from the time when Jack Klugman made being a coroner a sexy job. Quincy lasted long enough on the air that he became the father of the elderly mysteries at this point. He’s Matlock‘s daddy. The show’s big push was exposing little known medical conditions and dangers into the public forum. Remember this was before America was overloaded with cable channels. This season opens with “Memories of Allison” when he finds an unconscious woman at a job fair. “Slow Boat to Madness” features the recent issue of passengers getting sick on cruise ships. Keep your eyes out for a youthful Tim Stack (Son of the Beach), John Riley (Scrubs) and Mimi Rogers. “Dead Stop” has truckers dumping toxic loads in future superfund cleanup sites. “Bitter Pill” has high schoolers popping away. Simon Oakland (Kolchak: The Night Stalker) is part of it. “Guns Don’t Die” puts Quincy on the trail of a murder weapon being passed around by killers. “Smoke Screen” has Philip Baker Hall (Boogie Nights) as a fire chief looking for an arsonist. “For the Love of Joshua” was the big show of the season as it dealt with a kid with Downs Syndrome who might have been allowed to die by a doctor with an agenda. Among the stars are Tyne Daly, Allan Arbus, Clu Gallagher, Colleen Dewhurst and Ellen Travolta. “The Shadow of Death” features a Vietnam vet with PTSD. “The Face of Fear” features the seductively frightening Jonathan Frakes (Dark Shadows). “The Mourning After” focuses on a kid dying as part of a college hazing ritual. This is still an issue in America. This is just another batch of fine murdering mysteries centered around Quincy and Sam (Robert Ito).

Ancient Aliens: The Complete Seasons 1-6 gathers together 82 episodes that ponder if things on Earth were manipulated from above. The show is a bit of In Search Of…. mixed with a major conspiratorial straw. The show covers a wide range of subjects that somehow come back to various alien encounters. Did the Aliens really live on Mars? Did Aliens communicate with Einstein? Did Aliens abduct the real Paul McCartney? Did aliens get squeamish watching Alien Autopsy? It’s all here for those who love their little green men. The series turned Giorgio A. Tsoukalos of Legendary Times Magazine into a superstar with his frazzled haircut and constant feeling that it was aliens. This really does make me wonder if the folks at the History Channel are getting great ratings on alien planets when this is beamed beyond the moon. There’s 23 DVDs packed with more encounters than a church retreat. The best part of the show is that you’ll get a real appreciation for the architecture of the ancient world even if it was all done by aliens.

BEVERLY HILLS – Very often love letters show up at the most inopportune times. Such is the sad fate of Julia Marchese who loved her job as the box office queen at the New Beverly Cinema so much that she made a documentary about the place. Her movie has become historic since by all accounts, Quentin Tarantino is gutting the heart of the revival cinema. The director who at one time was the charitable donor has taken control of the place. Many of the long time people have been shown the door including the original owner’s son. Julia basically got chased off the property by Tarantino’s people screwing with her hours.

Julia has put her documentary online so you can enjoy it at home. It was shot in 35mm so might be able to see it projected. Although probably not at the New Beverly Cinema.

Out Of Print from John T. Woods on Vimeo.

Out of Print is rather frustrating since my immediate reaction is to fly to Los Angeles and spend the weekend hanging out at the New Beverly. But now I know that the cinema magic shown in the film is gone. Tarantino has brought that to an end as he took control of his toy. How does Tarantino let someone go who has written an amazing, passionate love letter about everything Mr. Oscar Winner supposedly holds dear? There’s a report that he has replaced butter with Golden Flavoring. So that ought to be a hint. Who know what the future holds for the New Beverly, but thankfully Julia captured what is now an end of an era.

SCREAM FACTORY

The Vincent Price Collection II arrives just in time for Halloween with another 7 Blu-ray transfers from the Prince of Horror. The films are a mix of AIP and other studio’s that wanted Price to spook people in the seats. First up is The Raven. This was when Roger Corman broke out the comedy during his Edgar Allan Poe series. Price plays a magician who battles with Boris Karloff. Peter Lorre and Jack Nicholson get caught in the crossfire of spells. There’s an introduction and outro made by Price when this was run as part of a PBS movie series. The Comedy of Terrors brought back Price, Lorre and Karloff with the added bonus of Basil Rathbone. Price is an undertaker who is cutting corners by reusing coffins. Business is slowing down so Price schemes for a way to fill his funeral parlor with local corpses. This was directed by Jacques Tourneur (I Walked With A Zombie). The Tomb of Ligeia was the final Price-Corman-Poe film. It’s also the first one shot with a sunny disposition. Price has lost his wife Ligeia. He meets a new woman and falls madly in love with him. Little does he know that his wife doesn’t believe in “Till Death Do We Part.” The dead wife haunts the new wife. Price has an amazing pair of sunglasses in the film.

The Last Man on Earth is essential viewing. This is the film that was recently remade in the rather blah I Am Legend with Will Smith. This is the tale of how Vincent Price is one of the last humans on the face of the Earth. All those that roam at night are a vampire race. Price is holed up in his house and fights them off at night. He does his best to find a cure to restore humanity. But the vampires have had enough. The black and white film was shot in Italy. Price is immortal in the role. Dr. Phibes Rises Again brings back the twisted Dr. Phibes. Price is doing his best to revive his wife (Caroline Munro). He needs to reach a hidden spot under a pyramid. To get there, he has to kill a lot of people in freak ways. This should be considered a precursor to the Saw movies. The Return of the Fly is better than The Fly. There’s a better edge to this film that combines the mad scientist with the crime flick. Price as to worry about his nephew using the transporter device that merged man and fly. Naturally it happens. But to get things ugly, there’s an underworld crime element. So the monster needs to hunt down and kill a double crossing lab assistant. The black and white film is fulfilling. House on Haunted Hill is the classic William Castle tale of people stuck in a spooky place. The Blu-ray transfers of all the films give them new life on home video. Bonus features includes 20 minutes of Price trailers, segments on writer Richard Matheson, biographies on Price, tales of working with him and quite a few audio commentaries. This is another primo Price collection that will allow you to enjoy his fearful legacy.

The Squad is a highly effective military spookfest from Columbia. The film does a fantastic job at creating the unsteady atmosphere as a squad of nine soldiers touch down at an isolated military post to investigate what happened there. Things get tense very fast with the fog and shadows around what appears to be abandoned posts. Even worse for them is they can’t get outside communications going. They fear something is lurking around them. The tension keeps building as their numbers dwindle. Can they really kill what’s out there? The paranoia explodes on the screen. The Blu-ray transfer makes the fog looks dense as the soldiers do their best to see clearly. The bonus features include the trailer and a behind the scenes featurette.

BLU-RAY HEAVEN

Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon was one of my favorite films from last year’s Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. The documentary takes us through the amazing life of a man whose highlight of his life wasn’t just the fact that Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin got high in his hotel room. He found himself as the manager and mastermind of Alice Cooper. He’s the man who put panties on a vinyl record and tossed a chicken to Alice on stage. The amount of pills and booze he could ingest allowed him to outlive a few of his acts. But he’s not a complete wildman. He made sure Groucho Marx’s final years weren’t a financial nightmare. He revolutionized the way celebrity chefs were treated with his deals at the Food Network. He gave us Anne Murray. He’s just a cool guy. Now you can experience his lifestory thanks to the best movie ever made my Mike Myers (Love Guru). Sadly there’s no bonus feature that lets you relax and enjoy the ocean view of Shep’s Hawaiian house. But I’m working on that detail.

Houdini brings back Adrien Brody in a role that he was born to assume. He really does give off an amazing Harry Houdini vibe in this History Channel biopic. The movie tracks how he went from doing magic tricks in brothels to becoming the greatest escape artist in the World. He is the word for any sort of impossible to conceive escape. The movie does show how he made the locks open. Brody doesn’t try to escape being Houdini. He knows how to bend and twist to achieve Houdini’s greatest stunts. The movie covers quite a bit of territory including his constant battle against those who claim they communicate with the dead. The Blu-ray includes the original version and a cut that’s 20 minutes longer. Odd are that you’ll watch the extended cut instead of the broadcast version. There’s also four featurettes that deal with the real man.

Obvious Child allows Jenny Slate to escape the curse of being a one and done cast member on Saturday Night Live. She stars as a stand up comic who is having a bad time. After her boyfriend breaks it off, she thinks she’s getting lucky with a guy. Except she also gets pregnant. Now here life and career is really in flux. What’s she going to do? Is she going to tell the guy? Can she make this part of her material? This is one of those indie films that allows a young talent to flourish in a role that doesn’t require them to dress as a superhero to show their human side. Slate is amazing in the lead. Polly Draper beings back her thirtysomething charm. The bonus features include the original short film version of the movie. There’s audio commentaries from the director Gillian Robespierre (what a cool last name) and Slate. There’s a behind the scenes featurette.

Thunder and the House of Magic is an animated family film about an abandoned kitty that gets adopted by an usual family. His new owner is a magician with his menagerie of magic critters and toys inside the huge house. Little Thunder is shunned by the old timers, but quickly gets into the family. He has to help stop the magician’s scheming relative that wants to sell his valuable house. It’s going to take a lot of effort and a touch of magic to kill the real estate deal. It’s a fun film for kids with plenty of action moments.

DVD SHELF

WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete Series is finally out on DVD. Plenty of folks suffered through the butchered first season that Fox put out seven years ago. But Shout! Factory has come to the rescue with a version that might not be musically complete, but is musically competent. “Jennifer’s Date” has Foreigner’s “Hot Blooded” returned to newsman Les Nessman’s transformation moment. That alone makes this boxset a great way to remember the show that was the precursor to MTV as the fictional radio station promoted real musical acts with snippets of songs and posters hanging around the DJ booth. WKRP was an extremely special show since it represented the last great sitcom from MTM after giving us The Bob Newhart Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The show’s ability to mix the dramatic with comic moments makes it more than just a chucklefest like other sitcoms of the late ’70s and early ’80s that have slipped off the playlist over the decades. Having worked at a college radio station and hung out with real radio people, WKRP is more realistic than Hardcore Pawn. The episodes give a great insight to how a radio station worked back then. It also predicted the sad rise of Clear Channel nation that destroyed the soul of so many radio stations. The boxset contains all 88 episodes (two of them were hour long specials) from the four seasons it lasted on CBS.

For those concerned about music replacements, Shout! Factory has cleared about 80 percent of the original songs that played. They were able to replace most of the lost music with genre clones. During “Turkeys Away,” Pink Floyd’s “Dogs” originally played in the studio. Somehow Pink Floyd’s people didn’t want to play ball which is a shame since when was the last time you heard a track from Animals on your Clear Channel monolith? The song gets replaced by a clone with the same tone including a barking dog. Thus Mr. Carlin’s joke makes sense. Rewatching the episodes made me realize how amazing Loni Anderson was in the role of Jennifer. She wasn’t merely eye candy. She had a natural comedic talent that made Jennifer not look like a gold digger, but a woman who knew how to enjoy life and get a lot of blenders from guys. Another revelation was just how great Jan Smithers was at making Bailey such a shy character with grand plans. The duo were more than the new Ginger and Mary Ann on the screen. The bonus features include the cast reunion at the Paley Center where they announced Shout! Factory was putting out this boxset. There’s also time with Gary Sandy as he remembers his time as programming director. He still has great hair. Normally people complain when a boxset comes out that they already bought the first season. You’ll want to replace that first season boxset with WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete Series. This is a great Christmas present for your uncle who gets cranky that Antenna TV only runs WKRP on Sunday nights.

The Red Skelton Show: The Early Years 1951 – 1955 takes us back to the dawn of network television. Red Skelton was already a comic star of movies and radio when he became a pioneer of TV. The show was a smash success and kept him on the air until the early 1970s. One of the anomalies of Skelton’s career was that he never syndicate his older TV shows. This made sense in that Red didn’t need to compete with his younger self. By the time he was off the air, TV stations were aching for color shows to run as syndication. So for decades his early shows lingered in the vaults. Thankfully his estate has finally brought out several of the episodes to share on DVD. The 11 DVD set includes 90 episodes that appear complete. They show off Red as so completely relaxed in front of the camera that it feels like he just thought up the entire show on the fly. He does all his characters including Clem Kadiddlehopper, the boxer Cauliflower mcPugg, Willie Lump Lump and the clownish Freddie the Freeloader. The half hour shows go fast as Red spends quite a bit of time trying not to crack up. He’s got plenty of guest stars including Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney and Vampira. Peter Lorre creeps up. Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis drop by to yuck it up before their break up. What’s the point of having your own show if Bob Hope won’t arrive? The bonus features include “America’s Clown: An Intimate Biography of Red Skelton” that gives details about the comedy legend. There’s also a special episode that has Walt Disney, Judy Garland and Bing Crosby. This is a fine comeback for a guy who stuck around so long on the TV dial.

The Big Valley: The Final Season brings to an end the Barkley family’s home on the range. This was a great family show with hard edge mom Victoria (Barbara Stanwyck) ruling the family that included Peter Breck, Lee Majors (The Six Million Dollar Man) and Linda Evans (Dynasty). The final season had a good batch of episode including “In Silent Battle” where Adam West (Batman) woes Linda even though he’s got a dark secret. In a weird coincidence, the telegraph operator is played by Olan Soule who would go on to voice Batman in the Super Friends cartoons until Adam West took back the role. “They Call Her Delilah” stars hottie Julie London. She even sings. “Presumed Dead” revives the career of Gavin MacLeod. Riding over from the Ponderosa on “Run of the Cat” is Pernell Roberts. In a Six Million Dollar Man preview, Richard Anderson (Oscar Goldman) arrives for “The Long Ride.” “The Prize” features the FDA required visit from Bruce Dern. “Lightfoot” is Joe Don Baker. Anderson and Gavin come back for “Alias Nellie Handley.” “The Royal Road” is graced by Harold Gould, the dean of thespians. The 26 episodes are spread over 6 DVDs. The big bonus TV historian John Griffiths giving background on the series. Big Valley fans should be pleased that they now have all the episodes on DVD. Lee Majors would mosey over to The Men From Shiloh after this series went off the air.

Penny Dreadful: The Complete First Season lived up to the hype as it brought the creatures of the night into a Victorian era Monster Mash. The Showtime series promised to bring a lot of things back from the dead. First we get Timothy Dalton in his meatiest role since James Bond. He’s explorer Sir Malcolm Murray. He’s no longer poking around Africa since he has a major quest. He must find the vampire creatures that abducted his daughter Mina Harker. Helping him on his quest is Vanessa Ives (Casino Royale‘s Eva Green). She’s possessed in more than one way. Vanessa is the most complicated and frightening figure on TV. She goes into trances that will make you cringe in fear of which way she’ll go next. This is a pretty big feat in a show full of vampire creatures and Frankenstein monsters. The biggest resurrection in the series belongs to Josh Hartnett. After vanishing in an abyss of cute films, Josh has returned to the living as a Wild West show shooting expert. He gets hired by Sir Malcolm to plug a few undead critters. He also ends up getting tangled up with a dying hooker played by Billie Piper (Doctor Who). The show nails the proper atmosphere needed for a Victorian era horror story. There’s a lot of flesh on the screen since this is a Showtime series. The biggest shocker is that there’s only 8 episodes for the first season. This is a great show to binge watch before Halloween hits the Witching Hour.

Eternals brings the work of Neil Gaiman (Sandman) and John Romita Jr. to motion thanks to Marvel Knights animation. The comic book was originally started in 1976 by the legendary Jack Kirby. This animated special is from when Gaiman wrote a limited series back in 2006. Eternals deals with a group of eternal superheroes who have forgotten their pasts as they becoming absorbed in modern life. They get woken up to discover that their age old enemies are mounting a comeback. It’s a fine complicated tale with plenty of mythos action along with physical action. The animation once more preserves the original artwork as it gives it a sense of motion. All of Gaiman’s words are spoken by the characters. Will this series get stepped up to become the next Guardians of the Galaxy for the Marvel movies? Do really wish Marvel Knights could be allowed to animate Gaiman’s Sandman series, but that’s with Vertigo. Drats.

The Hercules Collection contains six movies from the ’60s when Italian Cinema was cranking out the barechested hunk epics. After Steve Reeves smashed the international box office with Hercules, every producer with a spaghetti stained tie went into overdrive with tales of ancient times when men were men and women wore sheer sheets. The Loves of Hercules gives us real life couple Mickey Hargitay and Jayne Mansfield being Hercules and a woman he loves. Jayne does her best to stay in the toga. The Trojan Horse has Steve Reeves not playing Hercules, but anytime the man is shirtless, he’s Hercules. Medusa Against The Son of Hercules looks like an AIP movie when the monster arrives. The Conquest of Mycenae stars former Tarzan Gordon Scott. The Triumph of Hercules pits him against seven guys who look like they escaped from Madonna’s pool party. Hercules Against the Sons of the Sun brings the legend to South America as he must save women from being sacrificed by the Incas. This one might not be based on fact. Overall the six titles are fun to watch when you’re in a Roman mood. It’s sad to think that movies are no longer a great place for bodybuilding hunks to become superstars. The movies are in pan and scan since most were released to American TV.

Mad Men: The Final Season Part 1 marks what seems like the comeback of Don Draper (Jon Hamm). He ended up crashing hard at the end of season six when he gave up his carefully crafted lie of a life to admit to all his childhood in a brothel. This led to him being forced into exile from his advertising firm. As the series returns, Don demonstrates that he’s not out of the game. He’s using a pal as a cover to submit pitches to the firm. What Don doesn’t know is that his sweet office space has been taken over by Lou Avery (Allan Havey). This uptight old Madison Avenue pro is the anti-Draper. He’s drab, uninspiring and a whiner. The guy does have a dream to come up with a cartoon like Underdog. This gets him in trouble. Don discovers that in order to get back into his office, he has to sign a brutal agreement. If he screws up this time, the company will take away his shares and send him packing. Can Don handle this humbling action? The most frustrating part of this split season is there’s only 7 episodes. They’re holding onto the final 7 for the Spring of 2015. Even such a short season is more satisfying than any network show with 22 episodes. The bonus features include historical pieces about what was going on in gay culture in the late 60s and the Chicago Eight trial. There’s even a bit about Robert Morse’s big song and dance moment as Bert Cooper makes a memorable exit from the building.

Perry Mason: Movie Collection Volume 4 is the last full boxset of Raymond Burr playing the iconic defense attorney. Burr was getting close to the end of his life, but he wasn’t going to stop freeing the innocent and getting the guilty bastards exposed. He’s not quite as mobile in these 6 made for TV movies. But he still has Della Street (Barbara Hale) as his secretary. There’s also plenty of murders happening all around him. “The Case of the Glass Coffin” makes Peter Scolari (Girls & Bosom Buddies) a magicians whose worst trick is knocking up his assistant. The now pregnant employee uses this as leverage to screw with the act. During a charity performance, she shows up dead at the end of a trick. Luckily Perry Mason is in the audience and ready to take on a new client. “The Case of the Fatal Fashion” makes Valerie Harper (Rhoda) a mean magazine writer who gets to discover if the Devil wears Prada when she’s murdered. “The Case of the Fatal Framing” fakes the death of David Soul (Starsky and Hutch). He’s an artist who unfakes his death when paintings are falsely attributed to him. “The Case of the Reckless Romeo” features the death of Geraldo Rivera. Talk about a give the people what they want episode. “The Case of the Heartbroken Bride” ruins a wedding party with a homicide. Luckily Perry Mason was at the ceremony. “The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal” brings Morgan Fairchild on a tale of real backstabbing at a cosmetic company. There’s only two more Burr starring episodes left in the vault along with 4 substitute episodes to wrap things up in Volume 5.

My Little Pony: The Original Series takes us back to a time before Friendship is Magic. This show has a different set up than what kids enjoy on The Hub. The series is more wild with the ponies not exactly living the complete human lifestyle. They roam Pony Estates. They do have plenty of foes including grundles doing their best to ruin the four legged fun. They even have human friends that aren’t Equestria Girls. This series ran from 1986 to 1987. My daughter Josie wasn’t too put off by the changes of this early series. She immediately wondered why Minty wasn’t brought into the new show. The boxset has all 65 episodes spread on 4 DVDs.

The Little Penguin Pororo’s Racing Adventure is a wintertime speed flick. It’s a zippy tale about a little penguin who dreams of hitting it big in the world of snowmobile racing. These are not your normal skimobiles since they are like mini-rockets going across the snow. The movie features the vocal talents of Rob Schneider, Drake Bell, Anthony Anderson, Jon Heder and Jay Mohr. The action looks like it’ll be an amazing Oculus Rift game. A fine little film to watch while waiting this winter’s first snow storm.

NYPD Blue: Season 07 makes Detective Andy Sipowicz an emotional wreck. The previous season had his wife and police partner die. He has to keep it together for the sake of his son. He still doesn’t quite trust his new partner Danny Sorenson (Rick Schroder). Making matters worse is he’s got to go hard on Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon) who is a cop that might have killed a suspect. Johnny Drama is in hot water and Sipowicz can’t stick to the Blue Silence. Things get worse at the police department when people attempt to set Sipowicz up on dates. The guy needs a little release in the tense times. There’s plenty of other ongoing stories including how Andrea Thompson’s estranged husband is part of an investigation. But this season’s success is completely on the shoulders of Franz. He completely transforms himself into a man on the edge of losing it with all that life has dished at him.

Alpha and Omega: The Legend of the Saw Tooth Cave is a spooky tale perfect for Halloween fights. A pack of young wolves are eager to be see what’s inside the ominous cave that looks like it has fangs. But their parents aren’t up for them going on such a foolish adventure. Guess who wins this battle of the wills? It’s a fine entry in the CGI series about the little wolfpack. For right now, this is a Walmart exclusive. The DVD includes access to the UltraViolet stream and download.

Lalaloopsy Babies: First Step brings even younger characters to the show about stitched together kids. The dolls flashback to their early days when they were fresh felt and buttons in the nursery. They share their first few adventures when they bonded as friends forever. While this is considered a movie, the action only lasts 45 minutes so you can start this a little bit before bedtime for your young one. My daughter was glued from start to finish and now wants a Lalaloopsy Baby for Christmas or any holiday before Christmas.

SlugtTerra: Return of the Elementals has new characters join the gang. This show dares to expose you to Slug Fu! That’s the slugslinger’s martial arts. This movie is all about the slug action. The Elementals are five slugs that have amazing powers that must be brought together to save Slugterra. There is an enemy that is doing it’s best to eliminate these special slugs. This is a movie that is perfect for the slug freaks in your life.

Pawn Stars: A Very Vegas Christmas Special unites the Rick Harrison empire for one special day. In this case, it’s for the holiday party. Chumlee wants to bring together the casts of American Restoration and Counting Cars with the employees of Pawn Stars. It’s a sweet, well meaning wish. The episode has people remember the best and worst deals from the previous year. The bonus features include Pawn Stars “Another Christmas Story” and American Restoration “One Horse Open Sleigh.”

The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams: Once Upon A Starry Night is the Christmas special that aired after the second season had wrapped up for the mountain man show. Grizzly thinks he’s going to have a quiet Christmas when he finds a lost boy and girl in the woods. He brings them back to his house to feed and shelter them. But now he’s got to head out and find the kids’ parents that are probably lost in the wilderness. Instead of a quiet Christmas, he must risk his lives to save a family. Ken Curtis (Gunsmoke) and Don Galloway (Ironside) guest star.

The John Wayne Collection is a two disc set from Timeless Media Group with five movies starring The Duke. McLintock is Wayne’s version of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. Wayne gets to share the screen with Mauren O’Hara and Yvonne De Carlo (The Munsters). One of the ladies gets spanked. Jerry Van Dyke shows up with a banjo. The Desert Trail has Wayne accused of robbing the Rattlesnake Glutch Rodeo. Can he find the real bad guys before he’s hung high? Angel and the Badman is about a gunslinger who gets healed by a Quaker family. Can he give up his life of violence? Or do they need his gun to keep them safe? Paradise Canyon and Rainbow Valley also put Wayne back on a horse. The extras include interviews with Harry Carey Jr, Iron Eyes Cody and Yakima Canutt. There’s a documentary about John Ford. The big thrill is 40 minutes of great John Wayne trailers. This is a great stocking stuffer for dad.

The Soul Man: The Complete Second Season puts more preaching from Cedric “the Entertainer” on the air. “Get Thee Behind Me” starts the season with Cedric fighting a physical that involves a colonoscopy. He doesn’t want anything in his butt. “My Brother’s Keeper” sends their child Lyric to a boarding school. “Love Thy Neighbor” exposes what sort of parties Jamie Kennedy would throw if he lived next door to a minister. “Music and Lyric” puts the family in hot water when daughter puts a wicked rap on the internet. Will the congregation get down with the rap? The 10 episodes of this season allow Niecy Nash to expand as the minister’s wife who wasn’t expecting a holy life.

Life of Crime adapts Elmore Leonard’s The Switch with an all star cast. The book came out in 1978 so it’s predates Ruthless People. This is the tale of Tim Robbins who wants to dump his wife, Jennifer Aniston. Why? Because he’s sleeping with Isla Fisher. He fears the cost of divorce. But then a miracle occurs. His wife gets kidnapped by John Hawkes and others. They want a million dollars or they’ll kill her. As if Tim Robbins is weighing the options. The kidnappers aren’t happy that Tim wants them to do the dirty work. Also in the cast is Mark Boone Junior with all his eyeballs. Will Forte is part of the commentary track. There’s also access to UltraViolet so you can stream or download the film.