Starz Entertainment, formerly known as Anchor Bay, has been releasing single-episode
Masters of Horror DVDs this year, at the rate of one per month, to get the second season covered in the same fashion they released the first season of the Showtime cable series. Since February (shortly after the season broadcasts wrapped), Starz has released DVDs for
Pelts (Dario Argento),
Pro-Life (John Carpenter),
Family (John Landis),
Right to Die (Rob Schmidt) and - just last week -
The Screwfly Solution (Joe Dante). Coming on
July 17th is
The Black Cat (Stuart Gordon), and we'll get a pair of releases on
August 14th, with
We All Scream for Ice Cream (Tom Holland) and
Valerie on the Stairs (Mick Garris).
The remaining 5 episodes from the second season are awaiting announcement for DVD release. Right now the current plans are
Sept. 18 for
Sounds Like (Brad Anderson) and
The Washingtonians (Peter Medak),
Oct. 16 for
The Damned Thing (Tobe Hooper),
Nov. 13 for
Dream Cruise (Norio Tsuruta) and
Dec. 11th for
The V Word (Ernest R. Dickerson). So, if those plans hold (and they're always subject to change), then you'll have all these horrible things in time for the holidays!
But the folks at Starz are not finshed yet. Yesterday, pre-release listings went up at Amazon.com and other online retailers for the
August 28th DVD release of
Masters Of Horror - Season 1 Box Set ($79.98 SRP, $55.99 Amazon pre-order cost). This long-awaited season set will contain all 13 episodes from the first year, in what will reportedly be a huge crypt-shaped package. No word yet on extras.
If you prefer to purchase that first season in smaller bites, though, the same day will also see DVD releases of
Masters Of Horror - Season 1 Box Set, Volume 1 ($39.98 SRP, $29.99 Amazon pre-order cost) and
Masters Of Horror - Season 1 Box Set, Volume 2 ($39.98 SRP, $29.99 Amazon pre-order cost).
On the other hand, if you own a Blu-ray Disc player (including a Playstation 3), you'll want to hold off on that. Yesterday the folks at
Home Media Magazine, a trade publication, posted
an article by Chris Tribbey, which had this to report out of the "DVD & Beyond" summit being held this week in L.A.:
Starz Home Entertainment President Bill Clark announced during an executive session...that his company will release the first season of the company’s “Masters of Horror” collection on Blu-ray in the fourth quarter of this year. Other Starz catalogue titles also are in line for a Blu-ray release.
So there's a new Blu-ray supporting studio now, Starz Entertainment, and their first release in the hi-def format will be
Masters Of Horror - Season 1 Box Set. Stay tuned, and we'll update you with more information about that as we get word.
We're also working to get together some package art for the various other titles which have been announced, and hope to have that for you soon. Please stand by!
Update from Gord:The first season set for
Masters of Horror will indeed have extras when released on DVD. A dinner was held with the "masters" recently, and film crews were there to record it for bonus material on the season 1 set.
