Lower Decks

Of note this week on the TV front is the release of The Starlost: complete series. This 1973 Canadian series created by Harlan Ellison, ran for only 16 episodes and was hampered by low ratings and TV executives who didn’t “get” the show. Featuring actor Keir Dullea (Dave from 2001: A Space Odyssey), it featured a huge spaceship know as The Ark which contained numerous biospheres, each one preserving a lost Human culture. When an accident sent the ship off course, the various peoples must work together to save their collective hides. Also on DVD this week is the complete series of Beauty and the Beast, the CBS show that featured Ron Perlman as the beast-like Vincent and Linda Hamilton as his great love, Catherine.

When it comes to movies, the big release this week is Iron Man, the first bonafide hit of the 2008 summer movie season. Arriving on DVD as well as Blu-ray, the film comes in both single and two disc versions in the former format. For fans of cult films, Dark Sky Films has unveiled the next disc in their Drive-In Double Feature series, this one featuring Barracuda from 1978 and Island Fury from 1989 (though it was filmed in 1983). As usual, the films are accompanied by vintage concession ads and trailers. The only down side is that both films come in full screen transfers other than wide screen anamorphic. I don’t know if the world really wanted one, but Troma has decided to release a 20th Anniversary Edition of their classic crapfest, Redneck Zombies. I doubt the film has gotten any better.

Note: this is not a comprehensive list of all DVD release for September 30th, 2008. Rather, it reflects titles that may be more of interest to genre fans.

TV
Beauty and the Beast – The Complete Series
Mr. Bean – The Best of Mr. Bean Volume 2
The Starlost – Complete Series
When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions

Film
Bad Girls Dormitory
Black Magic Rites AKA The Reincarnation Of Isabel
The Blood-Splattered Bride – Single disc Reissue
Buried Alive
Daughters of Darkness – Single disc Reissue
Deadly Duo
The Devil’s Muse
Drive-In Double Feature: Island Fury / Barracuda
Flu Birds
Ghost Boat
Ghouls
Iron Man
Necroville
Possession
Pulse 2: Afterlife
Pulse / Pulse 2 – 2-disc set
Redneck Zombies (20th Anniversary Edition)
Yeti: A Love Story