Week of October 10 Digital HD, Blu-ray and DVD Releases

Welcome to ComingSoon.net’s October 10 Digital HD, Blu-ray and DVD column! As you can see we’ve added a video player at the top highlighting this week’s releases, and you can find more detailed write-ups of different titles below! You can click each highlighted title to purchase through Amazon!

New Movies on Blu-ray/DVD

Baby Driver

Edgar Wright’s music-driven car chase movie became the biggest hit of the British director’s career this past summer. While it’s not as intentionally funny as his previous movies (Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim, etc), it does have a laser-focused rhythm where the beating heart of every scene is the pop song needle drops the title getaway driver Baby (Ansel Elgort) listens to. While the movie has a lot of terrific, toe-tapping bank robbery set pieces, it pales in comparison to other car chase flicks like The Driver and Drive, with too much surface-level characterization and not enough real heart and emotion. Still, this is the kind of movie that even a casual admirer will want to pop in just to experience the car scenes in glorious HD quality. The disc also puts the 2+ hours of extras front-and-center, encouraging the viewer right from the main menu to dive deeper into the meticulous process Wright went through to stage his action musical, including a music featurette, animatics and over 20 minutes of deleted scenes.

The House

The powerhouse comedy duo of Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler weren’t enough to take this high-concept comedy all the way to the bank at the box office. Still, as Chance The Rapper has made the case for it recently, perhaps home video is the best arena to give The House another roll of the dice. Ferrell and Poehler play two boring suburban parents who get the crackpot idea to open a casino in their friend’s house to pay for their daughter’s tuition. Some nutty set pieces and gags highlight this R-rated comedy that harkens back to Risky Business but on a far more epic scale.

Wish Upon

This PG-13 horror entry’s wish for box office glory this past summer didn’t come true, but the Halloween season makes this a perfect purchase or rental for younger horror fans. Joey King stars as a teen who finds a mystical box that grants her every desire, but for every wish someone close to her dies.

The Beguiled

Sofia Coppola scored a minor critical success with this remake of the 1971 Civil War-era Clint Eastwood film about a wounded Union Soldier (Colin Farrell) who gets taken in by a group of women at a girls school led by Nicole Kidman. Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning and Angourie Rice co-star.

Armed Response

This hybrid of horror, sci-fi and action stars Wesley Snipes as an operative leading a team to an isolated military compound where an artificial intelligence system has run amuck. Although it’s Snipes’ first lead role in years, Dave Annable is the real main character and designer of the mindreading supercomputer the team gets trapped by. Anne Heche co-stars in the latest low-budget feature from director John Stockwell (Kickboxer: Vengeance, Crazy/Beautiful), which also features an appearance by the film’s producer/KISS frontman Gene Simmons.

The Poughkeepsie Tapes

This is a unique situation where a horror film produced by a major studio (MGM) in 2008 is only NOW being given its first Blu-ray/DVD release by the folks at Scream Factory. The combination of found footage and mockumentary chronicles the mind of a serial killer through his leftover cache of snuff films. The film’s director, John Erick Dowdle, has since helmed four other films (Quarantine, Devil, As Above, So Below, No Escape), and appears in new interviews on the disc.

Reissues

A Fish Called Wanda

One of the funniest movies of the ’80s gets a first-class special edition treatment from Arrow Films. The brainchild of Monty Python screenwriter/star John Cleese, this crime caper follows a barrister who gets embroiled with a gang of jewel thieves, including the sexy Jamie Lee Curtis and an Oscar-winning turn from Kevin Kline. The deluxe package includes a brand new 4K scan of the original 35mm negative as well as a handsome booklet featuring a new essay and a 1988 interview with Cleese.

Blood Feast

Another Arrow release this week is the Blu-ray edition of Herschell Gordon Lewis’ groundbreaking 1963 horror film Blood Feast, considered by many to be the first splatter movie! The proceedings are color-saturated (especially red!) as we follow a caterer who uses real human ingredients. This edition also features the Lewis film Scum of the Earth as a bonus feature, along with a DVD edition and several retrospective docs in the bonus features.

Laserblast

Full Moon is re-releasing this 1978 Charles Band-produced cult classic for the first time on high-def Blu-ray. The film, about a teenage loser who goes on a kill rampage after discovering an alien laser cannon in the desert, would later gain infamy on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, but the new edition features commentary not by robots but original producer Charles Band and his musician brother Richard Band. The film also features some cool stop-motion reptilian aliens by the late, great animator Dave Allen.

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas 40th Anniversary Edition

One of Jim Henson’s crowning achievements, this 1977 TV special about the title otter entering a talent contest comes home in a new edition that reinstates the Kermit the Frog introduction but unfortunately crops the original square picture to fit modern widescreen televisions. The catchy Paul Williams tunes are still intact, however.

New On Digital HD

War for the Planet of the Apes

20th Century Fox releases the final chapter in the saga of Caesar to digital this week, featuring yet another moving motion capture performance by Andy Serkis.

House by the Lake

Amiah Miller, who plays the young Nova in War for the Planet of the Apes, also features in this horror film about a young girl’s imaginary friend who may or may not be real.

One Percent More Humid

Also on digital this week is this indie drama about a pair of childhood friends (Julia Garner and Juno Temple) who reunite during summer break. We have an exclusive clip from the film which you can check out below!

TV on Blu-ray and DVD

This week TV lovers looking for closure have both The Leftovers: The Complete Third and Final Season and Reign: The Complete Fourth and Final Season. There’s also new beginnings with DC Justice League Action Season 1 Part 1. This week also sees The Complete Fifth Season of TruTV’s Impractical Jokers, and we have an exclusive clip from the release which you can check out below!