Independent film fanatic? If so, this is one hell of a release week for you! Arriving at retailers everywhere today are Troma’s 20th Anniversary Edition special edition release of REDNECK ZOMBIES, TLA gives GUTTERBALLS a deserving release, while Dark Sky release DEAD OF NIGHT and Blue Underground gives us the awesome DEAD & BURIED on Blu-ray. Read on for the full release list.

Horror in your House
January 27, 2009
By: Tex Massacre

ALEXANDER FODOR’S HAMLET: S’more

This is Shakespeare in the extreme, set in a nightmarish, Kafkaesque non man s land, visually mesmerizing with countless lateral sub-plots and unexpected twists. This version of the famous Shakespeare tale centers on the ghostly, supernatural aspects of the play. The text is in the original Shakepearean, but the characters’ personalities are changed, so for example, Polonius (originally a doddering old man) becomes Polonia a scheming femme fatale, who is plotting to get her younger sister Ophelia (who she controls through the use of addictive drugs) married into the royal family.

CLAY: SRS Cinema

Clay is a killer. He walks the streets, picking his victims by fate. Behind his madness lies Sam, his father, a man who unknowingly raised a serial killer by filling his child’s head with years upon years of evil stories, lies, bitterness, abuse and fear. Now Clay has grown up, and his father’s vicious rule over him is headed to a certain end… Several tragedies, years apart, converge into one violent and brutal climax.

TEX SAYS: Check out SRS Cinema founder Ron Bonk’s first feature film! Scary stuff.

DARIO ARGENTO’S DOOR INTO DARKNESS (2-disc set): Mya Communication (TEX’S PICK OF THE WEEK)

Four Spine tingling episodes directed and presented by the undisputed master of horror. Originally made in 1973 for Italian Television, Door Into Darkness was highly controversial at the time for it’s deliberate breaking of the level of admitted TV violence.

TEX SAYS: A must own for Argento completists…next up FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET!

DARK DREAMERS (4-disc set): Smash Vision

An unprecedented array of the horror world s greatest writers, filmmakers and SFX artists share their personal reflections as Smash Vision presents Dark Dreamers . Four-disc set featuring interviews by three time Bram Stoker Award-Winning author, Stanley Wiater, including one of the last interviews with Forrest J. Ackerman.

DEAD & BURIED (Blu-ray): Blue Underground

Something very strange is happening in the quiet coastal village of Potters Bluff, where tourists and transients are warmly welcomed… then brutally murdered. But even more shocking is when these slain strangers and an eccentric mortician must uncover the horrific secret of a community where some terrifying traditions are alive and well… and no one is ever really DEAD & BURIED.

DEAD OF NIGHT: Dark Sky

Legendary producer-director Dan Curtis presents a thrilling trilogy of spell-binding stories with mystery-horror writer Richard Matheson including SECOND CHANCE , NO SUCH THING AS A VAMPIRE and BOBBY.

DEMONIACS: Redemption USA

Two young girls, the survivors of a ship-wreck, are raped and beaten by a band of pirate-like cut throats. Left for dead, the girls re-emerge and, sexually empowered by a supernatural being hidden in nearby ruins, seek their wrathful vengeance upon their predators.

TEX SAYS: Another salacious Jean Rollin flick from the gang at Redemption! Those guys make me feel dirty…in a good way.

EXPLOITATION CINEMA: HORROR HIGH/LURKERS: Deimos/BCI Eclipse

HORROR HIGH–A shock-filled tale of a serious and shy, but brilliant science student, who, when wrongfully forced to consume a new drug he’d created, becomes a modern day Jeckyl and Hyde, allowing his pent-up rage to explode in a thoroughly terrifying way.

LURKERS–A psychological thriller about a beautiful, young New York cellist, whose demonic childhood nightmares have returned, plunging her into a horrific series of events that threaten her success, her sanity…and her life.

EXPLOITATION CINEMA: NIGHTMARE IN WAX/BLOOD OF DRACULA’S CASTLE: Deimos/BCI Eclipse

NIGHTMARE IN WAX–Cameron Mitchell stars as Vincent Renard, a horribly disfigured curator that drugs unsuspecting actors, murders them and casts them in wax to display in his eerie Movieland Wax Museum exhibits. Two hapless detectives start looking into the case, but do they have any chance at stopping the power-mad Vincent Renard?

BLOOD OF DRACULA S CASTLE–A chilling, blood-curdling tale about a young couple that inherits an old castle but finds it already inhabited by a crazy butler, an obsessed killer and a couple of vampires, who kidnap and sacrifice young girls in order to live on and on

FANTASTIC FLESH: THE ART OF MAKE-UP EFX: Anchor Bay

From classic creatures to modern gore, special effects make-up has always been the dark heart of movie magic. In this Starz Inside documentary, meet the masters of the craft and discover its incredible history, complete with rare behind-the-scenes photos and footage, revealing interviews with Quentin Tarantino, George Romero, Josh Brolin, Greg Nicotero, Howard Berger, John Carpenter, Simon Pegg, Eli Roth, Rob Bottin, Robert Rodriguez, Tom Savini, Wes Craven, John Landis, Mick Garris and Dick Smith.

TEX SAYS: This Starz Doc gives the FX artists some much needed love!

FINAL REMAINS: Vanguard

Deerhaven has been burdened by disappearances for more than two decades and local officials have come up empty as no trace of the missing have ever been found. An eccentric psychiatrist with questionable credentials comes to town implicating the local mortician, with a questionable past. During the same week, four young college students; Monte, Sky, Tina and Tony, plan for the local Friday night bash. A midnight stop at the mortuary for a prank Monte had planned, turns it into a night they will never forget. That is, if they get out alive.

42ND STREET FOREVER VOLUME 4: Synapse

Get ready for the fourth volume of classic exploitation, horror and just plain cool trailers in Synapse Films best-selling trailer compilation series. This time we ve got alien horrors, schizoid psychos, ridiculous comedies, vengeful action… and maybe even a naked woman or two… all transferred in high-definition! Chill out in front of your television and relive some of the greatest promotional trailers of all time!

TEX SAYS: Must own for trailer junkies…especially if you have the other volumes!

GUTTERBALLS (special edition): TLA

From the director of LIVE FEED comes the most outrageous, gross-out flick of the year! A brutally sadistic rape leads to a series of bizarre gory murders during a midnight disco bowl-a-rama at a popular bowling alley. One by one, players of two teams meet blood-drenched gruesome deaths at the hand of a black bowling-gloved masked killer. This alley will run red with blood by sunrise and the shocking twist that reveals the killer will shock even the most jaded viewer!

REDNECK ZOMBIES 20th Anniversary Edition (special edition): Troma

When a clan of hillbilly dirt farmers turns a misplaced barrel of chemical waste into a whiskey still, going blind is the least of their worries as the toxic moonshine turns them into REDNECK ZOMBIES! Now they’re ready to invite a group of wayward Yankees to a down-home feast of southern-fried gore and mayhem that will turn your stomach and tickle your funny bone! So grab a seat and set a spell with your favorite gut-chompin, tobacco chewin’ cannibal kinfolk from hell in REDNECK ZOMBIES!

TEX SAYS: These Troma special editions are pretty great discs. Add another fine fucked up specimen to the collection!

THE ROAD KILLERS: Lionsgate

After a young boy is almost run over by a maniac on a highway, a confrontation between the boy’s father and the driver sets off conflicts with a car full of maniacs.

SHARKS IN VENICE: First Look

Traveling to Venice to investigate the mysterious death of his father, David, a famous archaeologist and diver, unearths a killer secret that lies beneath the Venetian waters. When a ruthless mob boss discovers his findings and kidnaps his girlfriend, David must brave the dangerous, shark-infested waters once again to recover the treasure and rescue his girlfriend. A dark and mysterious chase ensues and secrets are revealed in this sci-fi thriller.

TEX SAYS: Steven Baldwin battles sharks? I thought he was fired from that show.

TERROR CIRCUS: Media Blasters

Three beautiful young women are bound for Las Vegas to become showgirls. And it’s not long before their car breaks down and they’re stranded in the middle of the Nevada desert. After spending the night in their car, a man named Andre offers them a lift to his place and a tow truck. But the girls quickly learn there’s more to Andre than meets the eye and they’re soon taken prisoner, joining a slew of other women. Andre fancies himself a ringleader and these girls are trained and whipped like animals in a circus. Meanwhile, Andre’s daddy is a hideous mutant locked in a shed, and one of his captives reminds him of his dead mommy. Escape seems hopeless at first but pretty young girls don’t go missing without someone noticing.

VAMPYRES: Redemption USA

A journalist investigates a rumor about vampires haunting the nights of New York City. He discovers 15,000 real vampires living today in the USA. Some are psychic and feed from spiritual energy, others drink human blood, for real, and their dark network is now spreading throughout Europe and Japan.

TEX SAYS: This doc looks interesting. Somebody drop me a line if you check it out…not enough freaks in the world if you ask me.