With TV season sets arriving on a weekly basis, we might as well start noting those. The prize of the week in that regard is the short-lived but fondly remembered Profit, a blackly comic show set in the corporate world. It was undoubtedly too edgy for network TV, even Fox, and might have done better on HBO or Showtime, where shows with much smaller audiences can still be considered hits. Eight episodes, including the two-hour pilot, for around $20.
Other season sets this week include Columbo Season 3 (great stuff); Dallas Season 3 (and a collected seasons 1-3 set); Greatest American Hero Season 3; McCloud Seasons 1 & 2: McMillan & Wife Seasons 1 & 2; The Muppet Show Season 1 (yay); My Favorite Martian Season 3; Roswell Season 3; T.J. Hooker Seasons 1 & 2 (SHATNER!!);
The movie of the week is the super-cool-awesome kung fu/comedy/whatever flick Kung Fu Hustle. Features an audio commentary and a lot of other cool crap. Here’s a word of advice: Buy the widescreen version, fool! Available for under $20.
The B-movie of the week is Boggy Creek II: And the Legend Continues, the sequel-in-name-only to the popular ’70s Bigfoot ‘documentary’ The Legend of Boggy Creek. MST3K will remember it being heckled by Mike and the ‘Bots. (The MST3K version is also available on DVD.) It’s available for around $10.
The ’80s camp classic Night in Heaven hits the shelf, starring Leslie Ann Warren as a teacher trapped in a loveless marriage who learns that her hunky student Christopher Atkins (who else?) is a STRIPPER BY NIGHT! Complications of the Erotic Kind inevitably ensue. Under $10.
Our good friends at Anchor Bay allow us to drop in on The Dead Next Door, a 1989 zombie apocalypse flick. The disc includes a director’s commentary and a documentary and other stuff. You can find the DVD for under $10.
The ’60s ‘former respected actress playing a crazy killer’ genre hit one of its peaks with Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, featuring some ax murders that shocked audiences at the time. The stellar cast includes Bette Davis, Agnes Moorehead (wasn’t she a Bond Girl?), Bruce Dern, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotton, George Kennedy, Victor Buono, Mary Astor and Cecil Kellaway. It was directed by Robert Aldritch. Available for under $10.
Fans of really old disaster movies will want to check out In Old Chicago, which tells the tale of Mrs. O’Leary’s cow and the Great Fire. Starring Tyrone Powers and Don Ameche. Available for under $10.
A serial killer stalks an all night grocery store in the 1988 slasher flick Intruder, starring Bruce Campbell, Sam Raimi and Ted Raimi. Available for around $10.
The appropriately campy biographical TV flick Liberace hits DVD, starring a scarily on the nose Andrew “Scorpio” Robinson. Under $10.
The proto-corporate-rat-race movie The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit is out, starring Gregory Peck. Under $10.
Masochists will want to check out Oh, Heavenly Dog, in which sleuth Chevy Chase is killed (yay!) and returns as pooch Benji (seriously) to solve the crime. Co-starring the no doubt highly embarrassed Jane Seymour and Omar Sharif, and directed by the appropriately monikered Joe Camp. Under $10, but there are other costs to consider, like that to your brain.
Project Grizzly is a documentary about a guy who survived a bear attack and decided to build himself a Mecha-like anti-bear suit.
Anchor Bay also attends The Rites of Frankenstein, another Jess Franco masterwork starring, who else, Howard Vernon. This one sound wacky even for Franco. Around $10.
Fans of old fashioned crooning will enjoy the Soundstage: Chris Isaak concert. Around $12.
If you’re desperate for a DTV Blade/Underworld knock-off—sneers the guy who watches every single DTV killer shark movie that comes out—look no further than Vampire Assassins. About $15.
The movie The Volcano Disaster…well, I don’t want to ruin the surprise. Still, it must be a great movie is the box promises, “should appeal to fans of…THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW.” Were there fans of The Day After Tomorrow? I shouldn’t blow this tremendous plot twist, but the hero is stymied by a “corrupt mayor.” Brilliant!
