Earlier this week Kino Lorber Studio Classics announced their September DVD & Blu-ray releases and it’s a big month as they’ll be releasing 19 titles! I can’t say that every title will be for everyone, but there’s more than a few that may just speak to Bloody Disgusting readers. Not a ton of horror in September, but some quality action. Here’s a few that I think are worth checking out!

September 8th Releases

Vigilante Force (Blu-ray)

Director: George Armitage
Starring: Kris Kristofferson, Jan-Michael Vincent, Victoria Principal, Bernadette Peters, Brad Dexter

Synopsis:
They hired themselves a hero – But all they got was Trouble! This slick, fast moving and action-packed modern day western delivers a strong dramatic punch. The setting is a small California community that has been turned into a boomtown plagued by violence. Vietnam war hero and ex-trouble maker, Kris Kristofferson (Convoy) is hired to head a vigilante police force – he and his tough squad use violent strong-arm methods and soon clean up the town and proceed to take it for themselves. Now, the town’s leaders turn to Kristofferson’s younger brother, Jan-Michael Vincent (Defiance) to bring an end the vigilante force’s reign and terror. Cult filmmaker George Armitage (Grosse Pointe Blank) wrote and directed this exciting and suspenseful thriller featuring a wonderful supporting cast that includes Victoria Principal (TV’s Dallas), Bernadette Peters (The Jerk), Brad Dexter (99 River Street), David Doyle (TV’s Charlie’s Angels), Andrew Stevens (Death Hunt), Paul Gleason (Die Hard) and Loni Anderson (TV’s WKRP in Cincinnati) in the un-credited role of Peaches.

Special Features:
Audio Commentary with Director George Armitage and Filmmaker Elijah Drenner

Defiance (Blu-ray)

Director: John Flynn

Starring: Jan-Michael Vincent, Theresa Saldana, Art Carney, Danny Aiello, Rudy Ramos

Synopsis:
Action veteran John Flynn (Rolling Thunder) directed this tough-as-nails thriller about a merchant seaman (Jan-Michael Vincent, Vigilante Force) taking on a gang of thugs. Merchant mariner Tommy (Vincent) is stuck in New York’s tough Lower East Side, waiting for his next ship to sail. He mostly keeps to himself, though he takes a liking to a pretty local woman named Marsha (Theresa Saldana, The Evil That Men Do) and befriends a kid (Fernando Lopez, Frankie and Johnny) and an old veteran (Art Carney, The Late Show). But he also finds the neighborhood plagued by a rough, violent gang called the Souls, led by Angel (Rudy Ramos, Quicksilver). Tommy stands up to the gang, and his behavior encourages others in the neighborhood to fight back against their tormentors. The supporting cast includes Danny Aiello (Fort Apache the Bronx), Frank Pesce (Killer Fish) and Tony Sirico (The Sopranos).

Hornets’ Nest (Blu-ray)

Director: Sheldon Reynolds

Starring: Rock Hudson, Sylva Koscina, Sergio Fantoni

Synopsis:
Hollywood icon Rock Hudson (Avalanche) stars in this explosive WWII thriller, filled with enough action and suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat until the climatic finale. Hudson portrays Captain Turner, an American Army officer whose troop has parachuted into the Italian town of Reanoto to blow up a vital dam being used by the Nazis. Upon their landing, the troop is attacked by the Germans, leaving Turner as the lone survivor. He’s rescued by a group of Italian boys – the only survivors of a small town massacred by the Nazis. Outstanding performances by Sylva Koscina (Deadlier Than the Male) and Sergio Fantoni (Von Ryan’s Express) with top-notch direction by Phil Karlson (99 River Street) make this one of the most realistic war films ever made. Featuring a beautiful and haunting score by the legendary Ennio Morricone (Navajo Joe, Face to Face).

September 15th Releases

House of the Long Shadows (Blu-ray)

Director: Pete Walker

Starring: Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, John Carradine, Dezi Arnaz Jr.

Synopsis:
Horror legends Vincent Price (The Oblong Box), Christopher Lee (The Crimson Cult), Peter Cushing (Madhouse) and John Carradine (The Sentinel) star as the screen’s greatest gruesome foursome! When a young novelist, Kenneth Magee (Desi Arnaz, Jr., Billy Two Hats) spends a night at Baldpate Manor to win a bet that he can turn a best-selling novel in 24 hours, he gets more than he bargained for. The grizzly Grisbane clan arrives to celebrate the 40th anniversary of a ghoulish family secret. And their dinner party has murder on the menu. Lightning! Thunder! Torrential rain! Clattering shutters! Creaking doors! A locked attic! A sinister secret! Murder! All the ingredients of the classic “Old Dark House” tale come together in this top-notch horror film by cult filmmaker Pete Walker (House of Whipcord). Co-starring Richard Todd (The Assassin) and Sheila Keith (Frightmare).

Special Features:
Interview with Director Pete Walker | Audio Commentary with Director Pete Walker | Audio Commentary by Film Historian David Del Valle

Unforgettable (Blu-ray & DVD)

Director: John Dahl

Starring: Ray Liotta, Linda Fiorentino, Peter Coyote, Kim Cattrall, Christopher McDonald

Synopsis:
What is it like to enter into the mind of a sadistic killer, experiencing his every thought… and the thoughts of his victims during their last, terror-stricken moments? From John Dahl, the acclaimed director of Red Rock West comes this fast-paced, stylish thriller that propels you into a hallucinatory realm of heart-stopping suspense that never lets up. Accused of murdering his wife years ago in a blind, alcoholic rage, David Krane (Ray Liotta, Goodfellas) is desperate to clear his name and discover the identity of the real killer. When local researcher Martha Briggs (Linda Fiorentino, The Last Seduction) unveils an experimental drug that allows the user to relive the memories of another person, living or dead, Krane sees his chance… injecting himself, he embarks on a mind-bending quest for the truth that will plunge him into a realm of physical and psychic peril beyond his wildest nightmares. The stellar cast includes Peter Coyote, Christopher McDonald, David Paymer, Kim Cattrall and Kim Coates.

Special Features:
Making-of Featurette | Star & Crew Sound Bites | Unedited B-Rolls

Moby Dick (DVD – Mastered in HD)

Director: John Huston

Starring: Gregory Peck, Orson Welles, Richard Basehart, Leo Genn, Harry Andrews

Synopsis:
This spectacular retelling of Herman Melville’s classic, masterfully directed by John Huston (The Unforgiven), is unsurpassed in entertainment, imagination and high adventure. From the screenplay by Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451) and Huston, Moby Dick is a brilliant film – consumed by an insane rage, Captain Ahab (Gregory Peck, On the Beach) has but one purpose in life – revenge on Moby Dick, the great white whale who maimed and disfigured him. The obsessed skipper of a whaling boat, Ahab uses his command as an excuse to sail the seven seas in an unrelenting search of his prey while battling a mutinous crew, tropical heat and violent storms in this epic struggle of non-stop fury and inevitable doom. The amazing cast includes Richard Basehart, Leo Genn, Harry Andrews, Bernard Miles, Royal Dano and the great Orson Welles.

September 22nd Releases

Busting (Blu-ray)

Director: Peter Hyams

Starring: Elliott Gould, Robert Blake, Allen Garfield, Antonio Fargas, Sid Haig

Synopsis:
Meet the long and short of L.A.’s vice squad… Keneely (Elliott Gould, The Long Goodbye) is the lanky one… Farrel (Robert Blake, In Cold Blood) is the short one… they may not be the best cops in town, but they sure are the toughest. Stand by for plenty of action in this fast-paced thriller that marked the impressive debut of writer and director Peter Hyams who later went on to make Capricorn One, Outland and Running Scared. Gould and Blake play a pair of Los Angeles cops who find themselves in a bitter conflict with their corrupt superiors as they wage a two-men war against crime czar Carl Rizzo (Allen Garfield, The Organization). And even when they’re demoted after a hair-raising shootout, the two dedicated cops are ready to break every rule in the book to bring their quarry to justice. The stellar cast includes Antonio Fargas (Across 110th Street), Michael Lerner (Barton Fink), Sid Haig (Pit Stop), Cornelia Sharpe (Serpico) and William Sylvester (2001: A Space Odyssey).

Special Features:
Audio Commentary by Director Peter Hyams | Audio Commentary with Star Elliott Gould and Film Critic Kim Morgan

The Destructors (Blu-ray)

Director: Robert Parrish

Starring: Michael Caine, Anthony Quinn, James Mason, Maurice Ronet

Synopsis:
Screen legends Michael Caine (The Holcroft Covenant), Anthony Quinn (The Passage) and James Mason (They Met in the Dark) co-star in this action-packed thriller set in the City of Light. This crime drama chronicles the attempts of a U.S. drug agent (Quinn) to stop a major drug-lord (Mason). Though the agent realizes his three predecessors have all been murdered, and that the French government doesn’t necessarily approve of the Yank’s harassment of a French citizen, he is determined to succeed and when Inspector Briac (Maurice Ronet, Purple Noon), a Parisian cop quietly suggests that maybe he should hire a professional assassin to snuff the drug lord… he hesitantly agrees. The hit man (Caine) turns out to be one of Quinn’s old war buddies and agrees to the take the very dangerous and almost impossible mission. Cult director, Robert Parrish (The Purple Plain) directed this exciting action film featuring another top-notch score by the great Roy Budd (Get Carter). Co-starring Marcel Bozzuffi (The French Connection).

The Satan Bug (Blu-ray)

Director: John Sturges

Starring: George Maharis, Richard Basehart, Anne Francis, Dana Andrews, Ed Asner

Synopsis:
The Message is clear: put an end to war research… or prepare for the end of the Earth. Officials have no doubt about the madman’s ability to carry out his threat; they know he has access to The Satan Bug. George Maharis, Dana Andrews and Anne Frances face the terror of a death germ in this race-against-time thriller directed by the great John Sturges (Bad Day at Black Rock, The Great Escape). The Suspense begins at a top-secret U.S. germ warfare laboratory when containers of lethal microbe are stolen and soon after the group behind the theft proves its deadly resolve by using the weapon to completely annihilate the residents of a small town Florida community. The next target: Los Angeles… unless government agent Maharis and an elite task force can somehow prevent the City of Angels from becoming Hell on Earth. A desperate manhunt is on… the survival of the planet is at stake and the biological doomsday clock is ticking in this superior tale of organized terrorism and split-second heroics. The stellar cast includes Richard Basehart, Frank Sutton, Ed Asner, Simon Oakland and John Anderson.

Special Features:
Audio Commentary by Film Critic and Historian Glenn Erickson

Lisa (Blu-ray)

Director: Gary Sherman

Starring: Cheryl Ladd, Staci Keanan, D.W. Moffett, Jeffrey Tambor

Synopsis:
Fourteen year-old Lisa (Stacy Keenan, My Two Dads, Step By Step) is raised by her overprotective unmarried mother, Katherine (Cheryl Ladd, Charlie’s Angels, Millennium) who forbids her to date until she’s sixteen. In despair, Lisa and schoolmate Wendy make up a game that consists of inferring attractive men’s phone numbers from their car IDs and giving them anonymous calls. Their latest victim is the handsome Richard (D.W. Moffett, Black Widow), with whom Lisa begins a passionate phone relationship, unaware that he’s the infamous Candlelight Killer. Suspenseful direction by cult filmmaker Gary Sherman (Dead and Buried, Raw Meat) – Lisa promises to keep you on the edge of your seat.

September 29th Release

Savage Weekend (Blu-ray & DVD)

Director: David Paulsen

Starring: Caitlin O’Heaney, David Gale, Jeff Pomerantz, William Sanderson, Yancy Butler

Synopsis:
Do you have the guts to find out who’s behind the ghoulish mask? SAVAGE WEEKEND, the darker and primitive side of human nature. A weekend in the country turns into a nightmare of terror when a killer, wearing a gruesome mask, stalks and kills the partygoers in horrific grisly ways. Starring David Gale (RE-ANIMATOR), Caitlin O’Heaney (HE KNOWS YOU’RE ALONE), William Sanderson (BLADE RUNNER), Jeffrey Pomerantz (RETRIBUTION), Christopher Allport (DEAD & BURIED)  and the screen debut of Yancy Butler (HARD TARGET), and directed by David Paulsen (SCHIZOID), this is an early entry into the slasher genre, made in 1976, but not released until 1980.  SAVAGE WEEKEND is finally out,in HD from the original vault elements!