New DVDs This Week (01/18/11)…

Some pretty good stuff to add to your rental lists, or even buy.

First, two more of those reliably fantastic BBC/Warner Doctor Who releases, The Dominators (with Patrick Throughton) and Meglos (Tom Baker).

In the wake of the X-Files, several sci-fi conspiracy shows hits the airwaves. One was NBC’s UFO/Alien-oriented Dark Skies, now available.

Kids and potheads will rejoice at the release of the weirder than we remember H.R. Pufnstuf The Complete Series.

Timothy Oliphant will probably never be in another show as good as Deadwood (how many are?), but the first season of Justified is pretty damn fun nonetheless. If you like Elmore Leonard, you can’t go wrong with this.

Other TV releases include 21 Jump Street S4; Dallas S14 and Merlin S2.

Out in DVD, Blu Ray and in a 3-D release is last year’s Piranha. You can’t say it doesn’t pull out all the stops, that’s for sure.

Even so, I think I like the original version better. That’s available on a terrific DVD too, which includes one of the best commentaries you’ll ever hear, from director Joe Dante.

Arguably an even bigger release is the Roger Corman Sci-Fi Classics collection, featuring (YAY!) Attack of the Crab Monsters, along with one of Corman’s very best ‘B’s, Not of This Earth, and also the less essential War of the Satillites. Still, I have to say this set is a rare must buy, especially since the presentations are supposed to be first rate.

Also out is two awful Corman-produced sea monster movies (one a Jaws knock-off, the other a gillman flick), Up From the Depths and Demon of Paradise. Not a must buy, but maybe worth a look if you love aquatic monsters as much as I do.

Explosive Cinema is another of those ‘recorded from VHS’ cheapie Mill Creek releases, but they’re cheap, and this offers 12 movies. This offers Coleman Francis’ Skydivers, as well as Sho Kosugi’s Nine Deaths of the Ninja. Other stars found here include (duh) Cameron Mitchell, Leslie Nielsen, Harry Dean Stanton, Richard Roundtree and more.

Alien from the Deep Directed by Antonio Margherti. ‘Nuff said. It’s way overpriced, though, so wait until somebody is clearing out inventory and get it cheaper. You might be able to rent it, though.

Marvel Knights: Black Panther The latest Marvel animated movie.

Death Race 2 Meh, a direct to video sequel.

The fine folks from Criterion bring the crazy with a pair of Sam Fuller classics, Naked Kiss and Shock Corridor. That’s some quality schlock right there. Available on DVD and Blu Ray. And since they are Criterion releases, you might be able to get them via your local library.

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BeckoningChasm

I remember Pufnstuff, vaguely, but when are they going to release “The Altered State of Drugachusetts”?
Rock Baker

Pufnstuf was weird, but hardly the trial that other Sid and Marty shows were. I was far more weirded out by Lidsville. The one that made me blink, however, was The Bugaloos. After all that, Pufnstuf is actually a pretty grounded show! Still, I’d rather be watching Elactra-Woman and Dyna-Girl any day of the week.

I’ll be going after the Corman releases for sure. War of the Satillites has evaded my eager hands thus far, nor have I seen the two 80s flicks (and I love a good gillman movie).
Ken Begg

That’s all true, but watching a big three network kid’s show featuring a man-sized, anthropomorphized rat wearing a Nazi SS uniform is kind of weird, nonetheless.
GalaxyJane

I agree with Rock, Electra-Woman and Dyna-Girl were always my favorites too, although I had a soft spot for Wonderbug as well. The Bugaloos were too flipping creepy for words and Pufnstuf just really annoying with that damned flute, “Blow me Jimmy!”…um…yeah…
Rock Baker

It also has one of those themes that you either love or hate, and can remain stuck in one’s brain for weeks. Lidsville was creepier than Pufnstuf, I thought. If I hadn’t already seen Match Game reruns, I might’ve been scared for life of Charles Nelson Reiley.

Still, we’ll always have Land of the Lost!
GalaxyJane

For some reason I don’t remember ever seeing Lidsville, either as part of the old Krofft Supershow (with King and the Kongs, no less) or on the Krofft reruns my local UHF station used to show after school. I don’t know if I just never saw it or if it was so traumatic that I just blocked it out. I do think Sigmund and the Sea Monsters had to be the low point of Billy Barty’s career though.

Land of the Lost is still made of awesome, but that thrice-damned Will Farrell movie raped my childhood.
Rock Baker

If you have no memories of Lidsville, don’t knock it, just count your blessings.

I was able to catch up on my Krofft shows when TV Land started showing blocks of those shows on Friday nights, a trend that didn’t last long (and the final couple of months it was the same four episodes of H R Pufnstuf, no matter what was announced -in fact, they never aired more than one episode of Land of the Lost, despite ads claiming it would have regular rotation). The first night of their celebration was a six hour or so marathon showing a sample episode from each show they planned to air regularly. That’s where I was finally able to see such shows as Sigmund, Electra-Woman and Dyna-Girl, Lidsville, and a few others (but nothing that sounded really cool, like Bigfoot and Wild Boy). I enjoyed Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (a somewhat more traditional sitcom-type show I thought) and Electra-Woman and Dyna-Girl (gotta love it!). By the time I was watching The Bugaloos, I had found my threshold of lunacy. I wanted to change the channel, but I refused to be beaten. I’d survived Inframan and The Six Ultra-Brothers Against the Monster Army with flying colors, but the Bugaloos nearly killed me! That it came on right after my introduction to Lidsville probably made it worse. I felt weirded out for the rest of the month it seemed. I don’t remember feeling that abused before, and I’d seen Sam Strongfellow and the Food Genie!

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