Media | DVD Releases | October 9, 2007: Welcome to this week's creeeeeepy home video releases, focused entirely on the American market. Sorry, rest of the world.

Roundup by | Posted October 8, 2007

Pick of the week

28 Weeks Later
Wait, so this isn't a sequel to the Sandra Bullock classic, 28 Days, where she attempts to kick her addiction to alcohol? That's disappointing. Instead of Sandra Bullock, we just get zombie-like beings who can run real fast. I prefer Romero's take on the walking dead, but I guess I'm just old-fashioned that way. Absolutely worth seeing, if only to be ready for the inevitable 28 Months Later.

Also out this week

Evan Almighty
The hook with this movie is that it was one of, if not the most, expensive comedies ever made. Why they bothered to make a sequel to an awful Jim Carrey movie without Jim Carry is beyond me. Didn't they learn their lesson from Son of the Mask or Dumb and Dumberer? Sure, Steve Carrell is a very funny guy, but there was no saving this movie. Spoiler alert: everyone learns a valuable lesson. The lesson I learned? Don't watch this movie ever again.

Reign Over Me
I... I don't even know what to say. Adam Sandler playing a variation on his normal weirdo character, except this time he's a weirdo in a drama about a man whose family was killed in the September 11th attacks. It would take a braver person than I am to spend money to see this movie. Are you that person?

Rise
There's really only four words many will need before they sprain a finger clicking Add to Queue on their online rental service of choice, and those words are: Lesbian Vampire Sex Scene.

Surf's Up
Okay, I liked March of the Penguins, plenty, and Happy Feet was pretty good too. I think I've had my fill of penguins, though, and the faux-documentary trailer that was plastered before every movie last summer was brutally bad. Still, it'll keep the kids quiet for a few precious moments, and really, what else can you ask for? There can be only one Pixar, after all.

You Kill Me
Not interested. I wish I could leave it at that, but the way the wiki works I have to fill the whole table with text for the formatting to look right. So, uh, to sum up: not interested.

TV on DVD

The TV releases have slowed to a trickle now that the fall seasons are in full swing. At least now you'll have the time to catch up on all the TV box sets that came out the last few months, instead of just letting them collect dust on your shelves.

High-Def Alert: The World of Blu-Ray and HD DVD

Another strong week in Blu-ray. Edward Scissorhands is in regular rotation in the VsRobot household, and it'll be nice to upgrade it. 28 Days Later is a modern classic that every horror fan should see, and Robocop might be the goriest satire every put to celluloid. The rest of the week's releases aren't of much interest to me, but it's nice that their is finally some variety in the weekly releases. HD DVD is pretty sparse this week, but remember, only HD DVD is going to get the high definition version of Transformers! One could argue that this benefits either format.

Fall Children: Halloween on DVD

Not into the sapphic vampires featured in Rise or Dracula's Dirty Daughter? If two guys sucking on each other's necks is more your style, then Lair should fit the bill nicely. (As an aside, this version of Lair has motion controls that really work!) Fans of traditional vampire family values are out of luck this week, but you can check out Splatter Beach to see some young people with questionable morals get their comeuppance. That'll teach you not to have sex!

Check out all this awesome cover art. When I managed a video store, I loved receiving the shipment every week. Getting a chance to see all the awful covers on all the direct-to-video horror movies was a highlight of my week. Do you know how to turn on a computer and double-click on the Photoshop icon? Then you too can design covers for horror DVDs! Check out fellow columnist Reibeatall's favorite horror movie ever, Black Sheep. That's art, my friends.

What's your favorite bad DVD cover? Let us know in the forums.

Prepared with the assistance of The Digital Bits, a wonderfully comprehensive home media site, and cover art courtesy of Amazon, where you can purchase any of these titles. Rent all of the movies covered in the column online at Netflix. We recommend waiting until the format war is over before investing in an HD player, but if you have to do it right away our money is on Blu-ray. Be sure to PM the author via the forums if you have any suggestions for the column. Thanks for reading!