Battle Royale on Blu-ray is finally here thanks to Anchor Bay. And it’s just in time for you to watch again before the PG-13 version Hunger Games hits theaters. In other news, the most despised horror flick of 2011 is available for purchase. That film is none other than Creature. There’s also some rumors out there (and a few confirmed cases) that C.H.U.D. 2 and Ghoulies 3 have been dumped on DVD for the first time (North America) in a 8-pack combo available at select Walmarts. Fans of those flicks might want to do some digging thru the bargain bins.

BATTLE ROYALE (DVD / Blu-ray) (Complete Edition and Regular) – Anchor Bay

42 high school students are forced to kill each other on an uninhabited island.

MICAH SAYS: Most obvious PICK OF THE WEEK in some time. I had the chance to watch and review the Blu-ray. Some notes: The quality ranges from stunning to atrocious, with the artifacting being very noticeable and distracting in places (I watched the Director’s Cut). The audio, on the other hand, is great throughout. Even with a few small nitpicks, it’s still the biggest must buy of the year so far. The Complete Edition contains the sequel and a considerable amount of special features.

CREATURE – Arc Entertainment

Revolves around a group of family and friends who, en route to New Orleans, are sidetracked in the Louisiana bayou and encounter a monster named Lockjaw who is revered by the locals as a god.

MICAH SAYS: The people responsible for this crap love to defend it. Creature is undeniably garbage. The most recent “in defense” was written by one of the actors and he basically said viewers approached this film wrong with too critical of a lens. Well, here’s what I expected: An old school monster movie with genre favorite Sid Haig. Here’s what I got: A piece of nonsensical sh*t featuring Sid Haig. And I didn’t’ see this in an empty theater, I saw it how the filmmakers intended, at a packed theater (only full because it was free/radio promo thing). Almost everyone there left howling at the awfulness (if they didn’t dart out early). This was before all the negative hype started appearing on the web. Bottom line: Creature is a sh*tty movie and rightfully earned every one of it’s “Worst of the Year” awards. Move on, get tougher skin and make a better movie next time. Horror fans are a forgiving bunch.

DELIVERANCE FROM EVIL – Pumpkin Patch Pictures

A couple leave everything behind moving to San Francisco with their son. When they lose him in a tragic accident, they realize there’s an evil presence that doesn’t want them there. Forced to come to grips with the supernatural reality haunting them, they seek the help of a psychic to get rid of the evil spirit.

FUNERAL HOME (1981) – CFS Releasing

The 1980s retro horror classic! Young and easily frightened 16-year old Heather is called to stay with her grandmother in the hopes of helping her turn an old funeral home into a bed-and-breakfast. But strange happenings and unexplained murders around the home quickly make this vacation spot a “dead-and-breakfast” – with no answers as to who or what is causing all the death. Well-executed gloomy thriller in the Hitchcock vein.