Each week here at Bloody Disgusting we like to highlight some of the new Blu-ray releases hitting shelves across the world. Please note that this isn’t every release for the week, just a few of the ones that jumped out at us.

Some good releases in the US and UK this week. In particular I’m looking forward to Scream Factory’s release of The Guardian and Arrow’s Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Luther the Geek interests me quite a bit as well. Sounds like the type of weird cinema Vinegar Syndrome is known for.

US Releases

Nightmare Weekend (Vinegar Syndrome, Region Free)

Synopsis:
A maniacally evil woman manipulates a computer and uses it to warp people’s minds and turn them into crazed mutanoid zombies.

The Guardian (Scream Factory, Region A)

Synopsis:
William Friedkin, the Academy Award-winning director of THE EXORCIST, delivers a new kind of fairy tale for adults. When a wealthy young couple (Carey Lowell and Dwier Brown) hires a beautiful nanny (Jenny Seagrove) for their newborn baby, the cradle will rock with a secret of unspeakable horror. Based upon the bestselling novel THE NANNY, and featuring gruesome state-of-the-art special effects, THE GUARDIAN is a classic chiller of erotic intrigue and shocking twists.

The Ice Pirates (Warner Archive, Region A)

Synopsis:
In the far future water is the most valuable substance. Two space pirates are captured, sold to a princess, and recruited to help her find her father who disappeared when he found information dangerous to the rulers. A real Space Opera with sword fights, explosions, fighting robots, monsters, bar fights and time warps.

Harlock: Space Pirate (Twilight Time, Region A)

Synopsis:
In the future, mankind has discovered a way to travel faster than light and has built colonies on thousands of planets. But even the resources of the universe are starting to dwindle, so five hundred billion humans begin the long journey back home. The desire to repopulate Earth starts the so-called Coming Home War, until the universal government of the Gaia Coalition declares Earth a sacred, and thus inaccessible, place. In this dying universe, the space pirate Captain Harlock travels with his immensely powerful flagship, the Arcadia, to fulfill a mysterious purpose. The young Yama, brother of the Fleet Commander Ezra, is chosen to infiltrate the Arcadia’s crew and discover the objective of the pirate captain.

Luther the Geek (Vinegar Syndrome, Region A)

Synopsis:
As a child, Luther Watts was deeply affected by seeing a circus geek (someone who bites the heads off live chickens in a circus sideshow). Finally paroled after serving 20 years in prison, he terrorizes the residents of his hometown by making chicken noises, crowing like a rooster and attacking people. He winds up at a farm run by a woman and her daughter, where he takes them captive and then starts killing off her neighbors. The mother realizes she and her daughter must escape before he kills them, too.

UK Releases

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (Arrow, Region B)

Synopsis:
Fun-loving bombshells Kelly, Casey and Pet have a rock band, and they’re headed to Hollywood to make it big. Thanks to Kelly’s well-connected aunt, they soon find themselves at a hedonistic love-in thrown by eccentric music promoter Ronnie “Z-Man” Barzell. He takes them under his wing, and a new world of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll unfolds. Superstardom is within reach, if only their newfound distractions don’t get in the way!

The Ninja Trilogy (Eureka, Region B)

Synopsis:

Enter the Ninja (1981)
Franco Nero plays a westerner initiated into the arts and life of a ninja. A wealthy farmer engages Nero’s services to defend him from the evil intentions of an oil baron and his band of thugs. Because he is an American, and good at his trade, he is hated by his Japanese rivals and the feet and fists start flying.

Revenge of the Ninja (1983)
Martial arts action thriller. After his family is killed by ninjas in his homeland of Japan, Cho Osaki (Shô Kosugi) travels to America to make a new life for himself. His first job, however, involves working unwittingly as a front for drug smugglers, a situation which leads him on a collision course of deadly proportions.

Ninja III: The Domination (1984)
The body of a sexy aerobics instructor is invaded by the evil spirit of a dying ninja. At first, changes in her behavior is limited to having strange interactions with an arcade game, doing sexy things with V8 juice, and being attracted to an unusually hairy police officer. But soon enough, she’s systematically killing, ninja-style, the officers responsible for the ninja’s death, and can only be stopped by another ninja!

Blade II (Zavvi Steelbook, Region B)

Synopsis:
Blade forms an uneasy alliance with the vampire council in order to combat the Reaper vampires who feed on vampires.

Blade Trinity (Zavvi Steelbook, Region B)

Synopsis:
Deep in a remote desert, vampire leaders are resurrecting Dracula, the horrific creature who spawned their race. Now known as Drake, this awesome vampire has unique powers that allow him to exist in daylight. To make things even more difficult for Blade, the vampiric leadership launches a smear campaign against him, targeting him as a murderous monster and sendingthe FBI after him. After Blade and his mentor, Whistler, have an explosive showdown with FBI agent Cumberland and hismen, it’s evident that the Daywalker will need some assistance. Blade reluctantly teams up with the Nightstalkers, a group of human vampire hunters led by Whistler’s beautiful daughter, Abigail, and the wisecracking Hannibal King. While their blind scientist Sommerfield works on creating a final solution for the vampire problem, the Nightstalkers launch a relentless series of battles against Dracula’s gang of the undead, led by the powerful vampire Danica Talos and her fanged acolytes Asher and Grimwood. Ultimately, Blade finds himself taking on the greatest vampire of all time, as his own fate and that of humanity hang in the balance.

Saw (Zavvi Steelbook, Region B)

Synopsis:
Obsessed with teaching his victims the value of life, a deranged, sadistic serial killer abducts the morally wayward. Once captured, they must face impossible choices in a horrific game of survival. The victims must fight to win their lives back or die trying…

The Visit (Universal, Region B)

Synopsis:
A single mother finds that things in her family’s life go very wrong after her two young children visit their grandparents.