If you enjoy browsing the selection of new horror releases at your local/online rental location or retailers, this is a good week to close your eyes and take a pick. While most of this week’s DVD/Blu-ray releases may or may not be good, one thing is for certain, the Elm Street doc Never Sleep Again is a home run. See the full list below.
Horror In Your House
May 4, 2010

COLD STORAGE: Lionsgate

When a brutal car accident takes place in the desolate backcountry, the only onlooker is Clive, a lonely man who lives nearby in an isolated shack. As he approaches the scene, he sees the girl of his dreams, dead among the debris. Certain that she is “the one,” Clive will do whatever it takes to keep her by his side. When the victim’s sister and boyfriend arrive, they quickly become unwitting hostages.

DARK NATURE: Troma

Hoping to enjoy a nice holiday in the country, McKenzie and her rebellious daughter Chloe travel to a remote Scottish community, but their weekend getaway turns into a nightmare as an escalating series of disturbances force them into desperate fight for their lives. DARK NATURE offers bloody thrills and the blackest of comedy as these women struggle against a brutal attacker who is hiding a secret that threatens to tear them to shreds. In the spirit of psychological horror classics THE SHINING and LONG WEEKEND, this smart thriller has a twisting, turning narrative that creates a sense of dread from the first shot and never lets up until the final seconds.

EDGAR ALLAN POE’S HOUSE OF USHER: E1

David DeCoteau directs this latest version of the classic tale. When Victor visits his first love Roderick Usher at his crumbling family estate, he finds Roderick and his sister decaying before his eyes. Soon Victor learns the terrifying secret that’s been keeping them alive.

GATEKEEPER: UNLOCK YOUR WORST FEARS: Cinema Epoch

A group of youngsters find themselves stranded in the Welsh hills with a weird local and a mysterious American stranger. When they are attacked by flesh eating zombies they must pull together or no one will survive the night.

MEADOWOODS: Monterey

In a sleepy and uneventful small town, three college students, bored and desperate to make their mark, plot a savage and merciless murder. Electing to keep a video journal to memorialize their bizarre pact, they plot in secret, devising a homemade death chamber that will allow them to see, hear, feel, and linger over their intended victims torment and final moments of life. Then, chosen at random, a fellow student becomes this victim when she is to receive perhaps the most brutal and horrifying of all fates. The default leader of this macabre trio directs the physical and psychological terror, even as contention and hostility within the group threatens to jeopardize their twisted plan, culminating in a violent and chilling conclusion.

MOTHER’S DAY MASSACRE: Midnight Releasing

Jim Cavanaugh is a shy suburban New Jersey teenager. His mom left when he was a child and his father is a real jerk. The unrelenting psychotic domination of his redneck father forces Jim to search out his long lost mother. His quest takes him to the backwoods of Jersey where he encounters semi-retarded hillbillies who have a taste for DIY circumcisions and Peterbilt trucks. Nobody escapes the bloodletting in this heartwarming tale of a family reunited. Sure to be a holiday classic.

NEVER SLEEP AGAIN: THE ELM STREET LEGACY: CAV (TEX’S PICK OF THE WEEK)

Never Sleep Again steps out from behind the thrilling nightmare and explores the creation of Freddy Krueger and what it takes to bring the worst nightmares to life. There are over 100 interviews from cast and crew, including directors Wes Craven, Renny Harlin, and Ronny Yu, as well as talent John Saxon, rockstar Alice Cooper, Monica Keena (Freddy vs Jason), and Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund.

TEX SAYS: As of this writing, I’ve only managed to watch half of this epic 4-hour documentary of the complete history of the “Nightmare on Elm Street” films, and I can tell you without a doubt that this is the best and most comprehensive document of a horror film series that I have ever seen! If you don’t run out to but this now…you deserve to never sleep again.

SLASHER: Unearthed

Psychology student Erin has had enough with her studies. Frustrated, she and her friends Julie and Danny decide to spend a relaxing weekend in the woods, far from their everyday lives. Gathering up several more friends, the group heads into the forest – but their carefree weekend quickly goes downhill. When an unexpected stranger arrives, their fun turns into a nightmarish race for survival as a psychotic slaughters them one by one. Alone, bloodied, and hunted – the group’s friendship is put to the test… and secrets from their black pasts bubble to the surface to unleash holy hell on everyone left alive.

VAMPEGEDDON: Midnight Releasing

Chased out of the old world, the dark vampire lord Giovanni flees to the American southwest where he sets up a new brood. Longshank, Brittan’s premier vampire slayer follows him here, and in a final confrontation in the Arizona desert both are killed. A hundred years later Melissa, a gorgeous, goth, lesbian college student, is obsessed with becoming a vampire and escaping her terrible home life. Along with her four friends, Ted, Liz, Mona, and Kent, she regularly conducts ceremonies where she tries to commune with dark forces. When she buys an old, evil book at a creepy garage sale she finally has the key she has been searching for. Following her dreams of Giovanni and a map in the book the five friends hike out to “Massacre Lane” and finally summon up some real vampires.