While this week zeros in at nada for theatrical releases, there’s enough goods on DVD being released to make up for it. Not only is DEAD SILENCE hitting shelves, but BEHIND THE MASK is edging it’s ugly head as well, along with the ‘ALIENS with cows’ flick ISOLATION, the release of Betsy Palmer in PENNY DREADFUL, and haunted forest flick cleverly titled HAUNTED FOREST. What a way to kick off the summer!
Rated: UnRated
Directed by James Wan
Starring Ryan Kwanten, Amber Valletta, Donnie Wahlberg, Michael Fairman
Run Time: 91 Min.
There is an old ghost story in the sleepy town of Ravens Fair about Mary Shaw, a ventriloquist who went mad. Accused of the murder of a young boy, she was hunted down by vengeful townspeople who cut out her tongue and killed her. They buried her along with her “children,” a hand-made collection of vaudeville dolls. Since that time, Ravens Fair has been plagued by death. The ghastly dolls from Mary Shaw’s collection have gone missing from the grave and reappeared over the decades. In the dead of night–wherever they are glimpsed–families are found gruesomely murdered… with their tongues torn out. Far from the pall of their hometown, newlyweds Jamie and Lisa Ashen thought they had established a fresh start. But when his wife is grotesquely killed, Jamie reluctantly returns to Ravens Fair for the funeral, intent on unraveling the mystery of her death. Once reunited with his ill father and his father’s new young bride, Jamie must dig into the town’s bloody past to find out who killed his wife and why. As he uncovers the legend of Mary Shaw, Jamie unlocks the story of her curse and the truth behind the song from his childhood: if you see her and scream, you will never speak again.
BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON
Rated: R for horror violence, language, some sexual content and brief drug use.
Directed by Scott Glosserman
Starring Robert Englund, Zelda Rubinstein, Scott Wilson, Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals
Run Time: 91 minutes
On the surface Leslie Vernon seems like your average, small-town, nice guy. He has goals, ambition and aspirations to follow in the footsteps of his long-time heroes Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees and be the world’s next great psycho-slasher A true self-promoter, Leslie gives documentary filmmaker Taylor Gentry and her crew exclusive access to his life as he plans and executes his next great reign of terror over the sleepy town of Glen Echo, all the while deconstructing the conventions and archetypes of the horror genre for them.
Rated: UnRated
Directed by Billy O’Brien
Starring John Lynch, Marcel Iures, Essie Davis, Sean Harris, Ruth Negga
Run Time: 95 Minutes
On a dark winter’s night, a pregnant cow screams out in agony on Dan’s Farm. Dan is trying to deliver he calf but there is a problem. Something has gone terribly wrong with the calf inside the cow. And Dan is terrified. Over the next 35 hours we slowly learn the shocking truth of what is happening on the farm; the biotech experiment gone wrong; the awful reality of what has been done to the cattle; and the physical danger that the five people on the farm find themselves in.
Rated: UR
Directed by Bryan Norton
Starring Emily Vacchiano; Betsy Palmer; Tina Krause; Sebastian Lacause
Run Time: 75 Minutes
This deluxe dvd includes the following: a 30-minute award-winning 35mm short from director Bryan Norton concerning a woman who buys a Manhattan house and discovers that it has something terrifying to tell her. Includes an audio commentary, bloopers, photo gallery, interview with Betsy Palmer, trailers and an extra short: “Tomorrow’s Bacon.”
HAUNTED FOREST
Rated: R
Directed by Mauro Borrelli
Starring Sevy Di Cione, Adam Green, Mark Hengst
Run Time: 81 Minutes
It is believed throughout the world that when an individual dies a horrific death, his soul manifests a tormented existence hovering between heaven and hell. The Haunted Forest is such a place, where legend has it that an evil spirit, Satinka, plagues the woods. Chasing the legend of the Satinka, a group of friends venture into the forest in hopes of finding any evidence of its existence. One by one, each of them disappear, and they realize there is more truth to the legend than any of them could have imagined. An unspeakable fate awaits all who cross into the haunted forest.