Movies
2012 BLACK FRIDAY CHOPPING LIST: FILMS & TV
Yep! It’s that time of year again. Thanksgiving is on Thursday, which means dutiful consumers are already preparing for the Holiday Shopping Season. If you think you’re exempt from that, think again. Either you know a fellow horror fan (or family member) in need, or you want something for yourself! You can take this as advice for what to buy, or what to ask for.
This second installment (in case you missed MUSIC yesterday) is all about movies and TV. From big box sets to essential individual titles, there’s something for every horror-giver and recipient alike. Some of this stuff is on the expensive side and some of it is dirt cheap, and it’s all just a click away from being at your doorstep (and in someone’s stocking).
Head inside to find that special something for that special someone.
Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection (Limited Edition) – Blu-ray
List Price: $299.98 (currently $149.99 on Amazon)
There are several editions of this floating around, but I think the US edition is actually the safer bet. The UK edition is a bit cheaper, and is region-free, but there are apparently some glitches. And Amazon’s current deal of about 50% off is pretty healthy! Apparently the transfers of Marnie and Family Plot aren’t all that great, but everything else is fairly spot-on. Psycho, The Birds, Rear Window, Vertigo and North by Northwest are among the 15 films included. This is also the rare gift that’s sure to please not only horror fans, but film aficionados in general. It’s a safe but compelling gift. A sure thing.
Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection – Blu-ray
List Price: $159.98 (currently $128.00 on Amazon)
Also a safe gift for any horror-hound. Even if the folks on your holiday list only like “new” horror or movies presented “in color”, this is the perfect opportunity to buy them something that will force them to acknowledge the greatness of the classics. Most people would be thrilled to get this box, but it’s the ones who might scoff at it that need it the most. Make someone’s day or make someone’s life better by educating them. This one serves both purposes.
Walking Dead: Season 2 Collector’s Edition – Blu-ray Head Set
List Price: $99.00 (currently $64.98 on Amazon)
A big fat “duh” for any zombie fan who’s been nice to you this year. Even though the current 3rd season is heads and tails better than this, it’s still a great “catch-up” gift. And you can’t go wrong with this zombie head edition.
Blade Runner 30th Anniversary Collector’s Set – Blu-ray
List Price: $64.99 (currently $49.99 on Amazon)
Not horror, but a landmark genre film. This 30th Anniversary edition manages to expand impressively upon the previous gold-standard-bearing 25th Anniversary edition. This year Prometheus introduced a new generation to the sci-fi stylings of Ridley Scott. If you know someone who showed a keen interest in that vision, you could do worse than picking this up for them and furthering their knowledge of his universe.
American Horror Story: Season 1 – Blu-ray
List Price $59.99 (currently $39.50 on Amazon)
One of the great things about “American Horror Story” is that you don’t have to watch the seasons sequentially. There are plenty of people out there watching the current “Asylum” incarnation of the series who haven’t seen the first year of the program. Be their hero with this box set (or treat yourself).
Game Of Thrones: The Complete First Season – Blu-ray
List Price: $79.98 (currently $45.99 on Amazon)
We don’t cover this show a lot on Bloody-Disgusting but it’s amazing. And it certainly has a lot of horror elements, what with its surreal white-walkers interspersed among its more “real world” violence. Did I mention violence? This show has it in spades. Sex? Roughly four to five times more sex than your average slasher film. Compelling characters? Absolutely. This is one of those shows I thought I would hate, instead I’m counting the days until Season 3 (Season 2 hits Blu in Feb).
Jaws – Blu-ray
List Price: $29.98 (currently $13.99 on Amazon)
Probably the most essential of the non-box-set Blu releases of this year. What could be more important than owning one of the best horror films of all time – one of the best films of all time, period – on a Blu-ray that utterly revolutionizes they way you see the film. This is an astounding transfer. I’ve seen Jaws at least 50 times but I’ve never seen it like this. You know how sometimes people say something like that, and then you check it out to find that the difference is almost imperceivable? This isn’t the case here. It really is NIGHT AND DAY different.
The Cabin In The Woods – Blu-ray
List Price: $39.99 (currently $19.99 on Amazon)
The best studio horror film of the year gets a great Blu release. It’s also a perfect gift because, while it wasn’t a huge hit, it still has inherent mass appeal. It’s funny, entertaining, smart, violent and has great characters. The bonus features on this disc aren’t exactly slouches either, the highlight being the Drew Goddard/Joss Whedon commentary track. A can’t miss.
Alien Anthology – Blu-ray
List Price: $69.99 (currently $19.99 on Amazon)
No, this didn’t come out this year. But, again, Prometheus did. In addition to Blade Runner, owning Alien is essential to any new Ridley Scott convert. Bonus? You also get James Cameron’s arguably superior Aliens, David Fincher’s interesting Alien 3 and the truly abysmal Alien: Resurrection. You also get probably the best bonus features I’ve ever seen in the form of the epic supplemental documentaries. Plus, there’s two different versions of each movie. Also – look at that price tag!
Dexter: The Sixth Season – Blu-ray
List Price: $65.99 (currently $41.93 on Amazon)
I actually hated the Sixth Season of “Dexter”, but you’re not buying this for me! Basically, if you know a “Dexter” fan – this exists!
Rosemary’s Baby – The Criterion Collection Blu-ray
List Price: $39.95 (currently $29.99 on Amazon)
I wish I had this one already, why don’t I? Roman Polanski’s terrifying (and terrifyingly funny) pregnancy horror is a true classic that has been lovingly restored by the cineastes over at Criterion. In addition to remastered picture and sound, the disc also contains a new documentary featuring interviews with Polanski, actress Mia Farrow, and producer Robert Evans.
Halloween III: The Season Of The Witch – Shout Factory Blu-ray
List Price: $29.93 (currently $23.70 on Amazon)
Rekindle someone’s nostalgia with this underrated and misunderstood (and gloriously mean) “sequel.” The result of a desire to spin the Halloween brand off into an entity that wouldn’t rely on the character of Michael Myers to survive. This glorious reissue contains two audio commentaries, a making-of documentary a still gallery and much more. Show a horror fan you know what’s up when they find this in their stocking.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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