Kino Lorber’s October Releases Are Glorious

I talk up physical media all the time. It’s basically what I do here at Bloody Disgusting. While Blu-ray never really exploded like DVD and VHS and it’s becoming harder and harder to find these titles in stores, the Blu-ray market for genre fans is booming. So many films I never expected to see on Blu-ray are getting releases and the gems keep on coming! Kino Lorber just announced their October titles and they’re glorious. I don’t know where to begin with these titles, but one is The Pit, so let’s all take a moment to celebrate.

This Halloween we’ll be able to watch The Pit on Blu-ray! Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alright now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s take a close look at all the goodies coming to us this October!

CHOSEN SURVIVORS – 1974
Dir. Sutton Roley

Release Date: 10/4/2016
Format: Blu-ray

Synopsis:
They are mankind’s last hope… and the terror has only just begun! After a devastating global nuclear holocaust, a carefully selected group of 11 citizens are sent deep into the bowels of Planet Earth, where they will remain until it is safe to return to the surface and start re-populating the world! But something else is lurking in this subterranean refuge…a deadly, rampaging of inhuman terror that won’t stop until it has exterminated them all, one by one! TV veteran Sutton Roley (Combat, Mannix) directed classic Sci-Fi thriller starring Jackie Cooper (Superman II), Alex Cord (The Brotherhood), Richard Jaeckel (The Dirty Dozen), Bradford Dillman (The Enforcer), Pedro Armendariz Jr. (Chisum), Diana Muldaur (McQ), Lincoln Kilpatrick (The Omega Man) and Barbara Babcock (Back Roads).

Special Features:
-Audio Commentary by Film Historian Richard Harland Smith

THE EARTH DIES SCREAMING – 1964
Dir. Terence Fisher

Release Date: 10/4/2016
Format: Blu-ray

Synopsis:
Their target: Humanity. Their mission: Total Annihilation! The world has just been decimated by an unstoppable, merciless army of killer robots, and millions of innocent souls have been wiped out! Only a handful of survivors have managed to escape the deadly alien apocalypse, and they must endure a non-stop struggle to save themselves from destruction, and somehow find a way to defeat the marauding death machines… before the entire human race becomes extinct! Legendary Hammer director Terence Fisher (Horror of Dracula) directed this Sci-Fi thriller written by Harry Spalding (Chosen Survivors) under the pseudonym Henry Cross and starring Willard Parker, Virginia Field, Dennis Price and Thorley Walters.

Special Features:
-Audio Commentary by Film Historian Richard Harland Smith
-Animated Photo Montage

ASTRO ZOMBIES – 1968
Dir. Ted V. Mikels

Release Date: 10/11/2016
Format: Blu-ray & DVD

Synopsis:
A film that has it all… a mad astro-scientist (John Carradine, House of the Long Shadows) reviving corpses at his laboratory; two gore-crazed, solar-powered killer robot zombies; a bloody trail of girl-next-door victims; Chinese communist spies; deadly Mexican secret agents led by the insanely voluptuous Tura Satana (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!) and intrepid CIA agent Wendell Corey (The Killer is Loose) hot on their trail and trying to figure it all out! This cult favorite was written, produced and directed by cult legend, Ted Mikels (One Shocking Moment, Blood Orgy of the She-Devils) melds into a high-powered fusion the films of Ed Wood, Russ Meyer and George Romero with undead cannibal gore chills… hot-pants sexploitation thrills… ’60’s sci-fi mumbo-jumbo and Cold War espionage intrigue.

Special Features:
-Audio Commentary by Writer/Producer/Director Ted V. Mikels
-RiffTrax® Commentary by Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett
-Audio Commentary by Horror Cinema Historian Chris Alexander
-Original Theatrical Trailer

THE PIT – 1981
Dir. Lew Lehman

Release Date: 10/18/2016
Format: Blu-ray & DVD

Synopsis:
Jamie wouldn’t kill anyone… unless Teddy told him to! Twelve-year-old Jamie (Sammy Snyders, Tom Sawyer of TV’s Huckleberry Finn and His Friends) is one creepy kid… he has a perverse obsession with sex, his only friend is an evil teddy bear, and he’s the only one who knows about the hole in the forest where he feeds raw meat to a ravenous pack of mutant troglodytes. Jamie will teach everyone a lesson: the kids who teased and bullied him, the mean old lady down the street, even his pretty new babysitter. Soon they – and his entire town – will face the flesh-eating horror of The Pit! The one and only directorial effort by Lew Lehman with a script by documentarian Ian A. Stuart and featuring a wonderful cast that includes Jeannie Elias (Nomads), Sonja Smith (Videodrome) and Richard Alden (The Sadist).

Special Features:
-Interview with Star Sammy Snyders
-Interview with Star Jeannie Elias
-Interview with Screenwriter Ian A. Stuart
-Interview with Composer Victor Davies
-Audio Commentary by Film Historians Paul Corupe and Jason Pichonsky

FUZZ – 1972
Dir. Richard A. Colla

Release Date: 10/18/2016
Format: Blu-ray & DVD

Synopsis:
With razor-bright wit and an excellent cast that includes Burt Reynolds (Gator), Raquel Welch (Fathom), Tom Skerritt (Alien), Jack Weston (Cuba) and Yul Brynner (Taras Bulba), this uproarious action-comedy about an incompetent police force is an absolute laugh riot! Adapted from the satirical 87th Precinct Mysteries, Fuzz is a slick police thriller so rip-roaringly funny; it would be a crime not to see it. The undercover policemen of Boston’s 87th Precinct are armed and dangerous – and the streets just aren’t safe from their bumbling detective work! And when a mysterious extortionist begins carrying out his fiendish scheme to assassinate prominent city official, no tactic is too outrageous for this goofy, ham-fisted squad who will stop at nothing to solve the high-profile case and save their city from the grips of a ruthless, diabolical madman. Directed by Richard A. Colla (Zig Zag, Battlestar Galactica).

Special Features:
-Audio Commentary by Director Richard Colla moderated by Filmmaker Elijah Drenner
-“Trailers From Hell” with Josh Olson

THE LAUGHING POLICEMAN – 1973
Dir. Stuart Rosenberg

Release Date: 10/18/2016
Format: Blu-ray

Synopsis:
Eight people know who the killer is… and they’re all dead! It’s tough beat for San Francisco police lieutenant Jake Martin (Walter Matthau, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three) when he has to investigate a city bus massacre in which a madman opened machine gunfire on eight people. It’s even worse when Martin discovers his former partner is one of the victims. But as he investigates the grisly murders, Martin not only discovers unsavory things about his partner, but he finds that many of the victims had shady lives, which shrouds the killer’s identity even more. Veteran Hollywood filmmaker Stuart Rosenberg (Cool Hand Luke) directed this action-packed thriller with an amazing cast that includes Bruce Dern (Coming Home), Louis Gossett Jr. (Finders Keepers), Cathy Lee Crosby (Wonder Woman), Anthony Zerbe (They Call Me Mister Tibbs!), Joanna Cassidy (The Package) Val Avery (The Wanderers), Mario Gallo (Revenge of the Ninja) and Paul Koslo (Mr. Majestyk).

Special Features:
-Audio Commentary by Lee Pfeiffer, Publisher of Cinema Retro Magazine with Film Historians Eddy Friedfeld and Paul Scrabo
-Interview with actor Paul Koslo
-Animated Montage of Images

TROUBLE MAN – 1972
Dir. Ivan Dixon

Release Date: 10/18/2016
Format: Blu-ray

Synopsis:
Mr. T is a One Man Army! Cold as ice, hard as steel, and dressed to thrill, a private investigator known only as “Mr. T” (Robert Hooks, Fast Walking) is hired by two thugs to find out who’s stealing form their gambling operation. Armed with deadly martial arts mastery and an arsenal of weapons, Mr. T battles his way through a dangerous maze of violence, turf wars and even murder – while still finding time for the ladies, movies don’t get any cooler than Trouble Man! Featuring wonderful direction by Ivan Dixon (The Spook Who Sat by the Door), original score and songs by music legend Marvin Gaye and a kick-ass cast that includes Paul Winfield (Gordon’s War), Ralph Waite (The Waltons), Paula Kelly (Soylent Green), Jeannie Bell (TNT Jackson), Gordon Jump (WKRP in Cincinnati), Felton Perry (Magnum Force) and Julius Harris (Live and Let Die).

Special Features:
-Audio Commentary by Film Historians Nathaniel Thompson and Howard S. Berger

TABLE FOR FIVE – 1983
Dir. Robert Lieberman

Release Date: 10/18/2016
Format: Blu-ray

Synopsis:
J.P. Tannen (Jon Voight, Coming Home) wants a second chance to be a father to his children… but someone else has taken his place. Determined not to just be a friendly “uncle” in their lives, he gets permission from his ex-wife Kathleen (Millie Perkins, Diary of Anne Frank) and her new husband (Richard Crenna, First Blood) to take the kids on a Mediterranean cruise. But shortly after setting sail J.P. finds that reconnecting with his kids isn’t going to be as easy as he had hoped: his youngest son has learning disabilities, his daughter harbors resentment and his eldest son is rebellious. Feeling overwhelmed, and reverting to his old irresponsible ways, J.P. is convinced that he’s a failure as a father. Featuring Kevin Costner (The Untouchables) in one his earliest film roles.

WOLF LAKE – 1980
Dir. Burt Kennedy

Release Date: 10/25/2016
Format: Blu-ray & DVD

Synopsis:
Screen legend Rod Steiger (In the Heat of the Night) heads a powerful cast in this violent and bloody clash between a WWII veteran and Vietnam army deserter. Steiger plays Charlie, an ex-Marine who lost his only son in the Vietnam War. He and his friends George (Richard Herd, Trancers), Sweeney (Paul Mantee, Framed) and Wilbur (Jerry Hardin, Cujo) fly to a remote Canadian hunting lodge for their annual outing. There they meet the lodge’s new caretaker (David Huffman, Firefox) and his beautiful girlfriend (Robin Mattson, General Hospital). The tension mounts and the hatred slowly builds when Charlie finds out the new caretaker is a deserter. The two men clash as Charlie and his buddies start terrorizing the young couple… playing a sick game of survival. But when David is pushed too far, the hunters become the hunted and surviving the night at Wolf Lake becomes a challenge to all. Written and directed by western legend Burt Kennedy (Support Your Local Sheriff!, Young Billy Young).

Special Features:
-Interview with actors Jerry Harden and Richard Herd
-Interview with Producer Lance Hool