Ah, the final few days before Halloween, which usually means great things for horror fans.

This year delivers in spades with releases of great films like: Atrocious, Attack the Block, Rare Exports and Blu versions of the classics, Zombie and House by the Cemetery. The much talked about A Serbian Film is also available. Meh. I hated it. And, always noteworthy, Criterion has released another film. This time it’s Island of the Lost Souls.

Happy Halloween, everyone. Let me know what you are planning on picking up. Also, what do you normally watch on Halloween? My stead fasts are Halloween III, Trick ‘R Treat, and Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Horror In Your House
October 26th, 2011

ATROCIOUS – Bloody Disgusting Selects / The Collective

In April 4th of 2010, Quintanilla family was found murdered in their country side house. Police reported the existence of 37 hours of recorded evidence. “Atrocious” shows the real images of such evidence. Quintanilla family traveled to their old farm house in Sitges, where Christian and July investigated about the Legend of the Girl in the Garraf woods. Both of them used to record all day whatever they did.

ATTACK THE BLOCK (DVD / Blu-Ray) – Sony Pictures

Follows a gang of tough inner-city kids who rob Sam, as she is walking home in a scary South London tower block.  She flees when the gang is attacked by a small alien creature which falls from the sky. While Sam and the police hunt for the gang, a second wave of creatures falls. The gang grabs weapons, mount bikes, and set out to defend their turf.  But this time, the creatures are much bigger. Savage and bestial, nothing will stand in their way. And the bunch of no-hope kids who just attacked Sam are about to become her only hope.

MICAH SAYS: It’s good. Believe. It’s the film that Super 8 tried to be. A nostalgic, fun, ’80s-esque throwback alien movie. One of my favorites of the week and nearly my pick of the week.

THE COUNTESS – MPI Home Video

Based on the legendary tale of the real Countess Elizabeth Bathory, international star Julie Delpy (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, TV’s ER) scores a personal triumph by writing, directing, producing, scoring and starring in the classic horror tale of a powerful woman driven insane by thwarted passion. The newly widowed Countess (Delpy) falls hard for a charming, handsome young man (Daniel Bruhl of Inglourious Basterds, The Bourne Ultimatum) whose father (William Hurt of The Incredible Hulk, Into the Wild) thwarts their romance. Believing her age made her undesirable, the Countess becomes obsessed with rejuvenating power of blood taken from virgins. Soon, she is bathing in it regularly, local young women are going missing, and someone is sent to investigate the terrifying rumors – the very same young man who drove her to this madness.

CUT – Vanguard Cinema

Five friends return from a cocktail party to a cottage deep inside the English woods. Having brushed off the notion of urban legends as nonsense, our protagonists slowly find themselves weaving through the nightmare reality of their very own horror story. CUT is a claustrophobic thrill ride, only relenting on its increasingly unbearable tension and heart stopping shocks, to inject a little humor to soften the blow and increase the fun! The unique claustrophobic production method, avoiding edits, creates an incredibly exciting and uniquely terrifying, never before witnessed viewing experience…

FACES IN THE CROWD – (DVD / Blu-Ray) – Millenium Entertainment

Revolves around a young elementary school teacher named Anna Marchant (Milla Jovovich), who is attacked by a serial killer known only as Tearjerk Jack and survives, but is left to struggle with a neurological disorder commonly referred to as face-blindness (prosopagnosia).

THE GREEN MONSTER – Tempe Video

In the vein of such ’80s camp classics as Motel Hell and Blood Diner, Edward X. Young (Mr. Hush) and Colleen Cohan (Sea Of Dust) star as the sadistic cannibalistic voodoo practicing husband and wife owners of a downtrodden convenience store. When local teens begin disappearing from the area it’s up to a group of high school kids to play Scooby Doo and find out whodunit. But when all signs point to Gerald’s Hungry Shack, our junior detectives realize that they’re going to need a strong mind, a stronger stomach and plenty of sharp weapons to combat the deadly duo behind the counter – and their large green dumpster out back, overflowing with dead teenagers!

THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY (DVD / Blu-Ray) – Blue Underground

A young family moves from their cramped New York City apartment to a spacious new home in New England. But this is no ordinary house in the country: the previous owner was the deranged Dr. Freudstein, whose monstrous human experiments have left a legacy of bloody mayhem. Now, someone – or something – is alive in the basement, and home sweet home is about to become a horrific hell on earth.

MICAH SAYS: We can never have enough Italian horror on Blu. This is one I will eventually pick up.

ISLAND OF THE LOST SOULS (DVD / Blu-Ray) – The Criterion Collection

A twisted treasure from Hollywood’s pre-Code horror heyday, Island of Lost Souls is a cautionary tale of science run amok, adapted from H. G. Wells’s novel The Island of Dr. Moreau. In one of his first major movie roles, Charles Laughton is a mad doctor conducting ghastly genetic experiments on a remote island in the South Seas, much to the fear and disgust of the shipwrecked sailor (Richard Arlen) who finds himself trapped there. This touchstone of movie terror, directed by Erle C. Kenton, features expressionistic photography by Karl Struss, groundbreaking makeup effects that have inspired generations of monster-movie artists, and the legendary Bela Lugosi in one of his most gruesome roles.

MOTHMAN – Lionsgate Home Entertainment

Desperate to put the horrific events of her past behind her, Katherine (Jewel Staite) relocate to Washington, D.C. after high school to become a journalist. Ten year late, she is summoned back to her hometown to cover the annual Mothman Festival. There she must face her estranged friends, and the life-altering drowning they covered up as high school seniors. The group begins to experience terrifying visions, and they soon figure out that the Mothman isn’t a mere fairy tale. . .and it was its revenge for their crime.

RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE DVD / Blu-Ray) – Oscilloscope Laboratories

Young Pietari lives with his stern reindeer-herding father Rauno in arctic Finland. On the eve of Christmas, an enormous excavation at a nearby mountain disturbs the locals and captures Pietari’s curiosity. When Rauno’s reindeer heard is mysteriously slain and the children in town go missing. Pietari realizes that the dig has unearthed the evil Santa Claus of local lore – who no one wants coming to town.

MICAH SAYS: While I really wanted to pick Attack the Block for POW, Rare Exports gets the honor. If only because it blew my mind when I first caught it in theaters last Christmas time. The dark and disturbing Santa mythology is flat out fantastic. And there’s plenty of bone-dry humor to keep you laughing whilst your pre-conceived notions of jolly ole St. Nick are dashed to pieces. PICK OF THE WEEK.

A SERBIAN FILM (DVD / Blu-Ray) – Invincible Pictures

Milos, a retired adult film star, leads a normal family life with his wife Maria and six-year old son Petar in tumultuous Serbia, trying to make ends meet. A sudden call from his former colleague Layla will change everything. Aware of his financial problems, Layla introduces Milos to Vukmir – a mysterious, menacing and politically powerful figure in the adult film business. A leading role in Vukmir’s production will provide financial support to Milos and his family for the rest of their lives. A contract insists on his absolute unawareness of a script they will shoot. From then on, Milos is drawn into a maelstrom of unbelievable cruelty and mayhem devised by his employer, “the director” of his destiny. Vukmir and his cohorts will stop at nothing to complete his vision. In order to escape the living cinematic hell he’s put into, and save his family’s life, Milos will have to sacrifice everything – his pride, his morality, his sanity, and maybe even his own life.

WRONG TURN 4: BLOODY BEGINNING (DVD / Blu-Ray) – Fox Home Entertainment

At an isolated hospital deep in the West Virginia wilderness, three hideously deformed mutants go on a merciless killing spree. Now, decades later, this family of blood-thirsty cannibals is stalking new prey: a group of young skiers trapped by a blizzard. The abandoned medical wards soon become killing fields as the panicked victims come face to face with a chilling choice: fight back or die. With bonus footage too graphic for theaters, WRONG TURN 4 takes you to the most terrifying place of all…the beginning.

ZOMBIE (DVD / Blu-Ray) – Blue Underground

Strangers looking for a woman’s father arrive at a tropical island where a doctor desperately searches for the cause and cure of a recent epidemic of the undead.

MICAH SAYS: Another must for Blu collectors. 2-Disc set includes plenty of bonus features not seen before.