It’s Halloween weekend and there isn’t a lot of horror but Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy still have eight films to talk about. They include a documentary about an archbishop who wrote the gay disco anthem of the ‘70s (I Was Born This Way) and another true story about drugs, family and revenge in the Ozarks (Violent Ends). There are some holiday-themed titles including a daughter realizing her mom may have fallen into a cult (Self-Help) and an animated Frankenstein-esque tale for kids (Stitch Head). The director of Conclave has Colin Farrell gambling away in Macau (Ballad of a Small Player) and Nia DaCosta swaps race and gender in an updating of Henrik Ibsen’s 1891 play (Hedda). Diane Lane watches her family come apart in a new America (Anniversary) and the pair share their memories on the 40th anniversary of a masterpiece (Back to the Future).

3:32 - I Was Born This Way

13:44 - Self-Help

21:53 - Stitch Head

30:43 - Violent Ends

42:14 - Ballad of a Small Player

51:14 - Anniversary

1:09:10 - Hedda

1:20:33 - Back to the Future (40th Anniversary re-release)

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Be sure to check out

Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes

Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

It’s another week of horror, weirdness and cult titles on physical media but also another addition from our annual “Why Is This Not On Blu-ray?” shows. Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski guide you through this week on physical media including the works of Dan Curtis, Richard Stanley and Guillermo Del Toro. Abel Ferrara’s infamous revenge picture gets the upgrade as does one of the great Godzilla films. John Carpenter’s best film of the ‘90s gets its due praise while there is a deep dive into one of the infamous slasher spoofs of the ’80s. Finally, Mike Nichols’ adaptation of an anti-war classic is reappraised with a deserving new transfer.

4:00 - Criterion (Deep Crimson (4K), Nightmare Alley (2021) (4K))

15:25 - Kino (The Cat and the Canary (1927) (4K), Dan Curtis’ Classic Monsters (1968-1974), Dead of Night, Dust Devil (4K))

38:02 - Arrow (In the Mouth of Madness (4K), Ms. 45 (4K))

55:20 - TerrorVision (Student Bodies 4K)

1:16:14 - Shout (Shin Godzilla (4K), Catch-22 (4K))

1:37:33 – New TV & Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (St. Denis Medical: Season One, The Day of the Jackal: Season One, The Toxic Avenger (2023), Americana, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Smurfs, Jimmy and Stiggs, Familiar Touch)

1:42:18 - New Blu-ray Announcements

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes

Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have another 11 reviews for you this week. It starts all the way back at last year’s Toronto Film Festival with Crispin Glover finding no way out of a mysterious hotel (Mr. K). Justin Lin adapts the true story of a young missionary and a lost tribe (Last Days). A ‘90s thriller gets updated (The Hand That Rocks The Cradle), an imaginary demon terrorizes people (Shelby Oaks) and zombies go after drag queens (Queens of the Dead). Kelly Reichardt tells the story of the man behind a ‘70s art heist (The Mastermind) and Richard Linklater returns with Ethan Hawke on a notable night for a songwriting legend (Blue Moon). Jesse Plemons kidnaps Emma Stone in the latest from Yorgos Lanthimos and Kathryn Bigelow returns after eight years to put us on the brink of WWIII (A House of Dynamite). The author of It Ends With Us gets her latest melodramatic adaptation (Regretting You) while The Boss finally gets a crucial part of his journey told (Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere)

3:56 - Mr. K

11:34 - Last Days

17:48 - The Hand That Rocks the Cradle

27:32 - Shelby Oaks

33:28 - Queens of the Dead

45:42 - The Mastermind

55:03 - Blue Moon

1:08:16 - Bugonia

1:20:32 - Regretting You

1:34:14 - A House of Dynamite

1:48:00 - Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

2:01:13 – Next Week

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes

Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

This week in physical media with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski there is a whole lot of murder. Viggo Mortensen kills a bunch, Mia Goth gets in on the action, Yancy Butler does some drownings, Klaus Kinski does some biting, Brian Benben tries to solve some and Michael Biehn attempts to defend them. It’s also still the month of horror and even though a double bill of Cronenberg doesn’t exactly fit entirely, there is still plenty to be found for your October fill.

3:40 - Criterion (Altered States (4K), A History of Violence (4K), The Shrouds)

32:17 - Shout (Nosferatu the Vampyre (4K), The Place Beyond the Pines (4K), Savages (4K))

54:20 - Kino (Rampage (1987) (4K), Radioland Murders, The Ex)

1:15:51 - A24 (The X Trilogy 4K)

1:30:53 - Arrow (Three / Three...Extremes)

1:41:24 - New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (Eddington (4K), Relay, Souleymane’s Story, Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore)

1:43:21 - New Blu-ray Announcements

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes

Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy have seven reviews for you this week. They include a pair of the best films from Sundance this year – the harrowing documentary of the worst woman next door (The Perfect Neighbor) and the equally harrowing tale of motherhood anxiety with the great Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You). One of the greatest to ever do it gets a five-part documentary on Apple TV (Mr. Scorsese). Guillermo Del Toro finally makes the film his entire career has been building towards (Frankenstein). Aziz Ansari swaps lives with Seth Rogen thanks to angel Keanu Reeves (Good Fortune). Julia Roberts gets caught in the middle of collegiate accusations (After The Hunt) and Ethan Hawke returns in your dreams as The Grabber (Black Phone 2).

3:58 – The Perfect Neighbor

16:16 - If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

27:21 - Mr. Scorsese

35:18 - Frankenstein

53:31 - Good Fortune

1:05:06 - After the Hunt

1:29:42 - Black Phone 2

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes

Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

It’s another packed week in October for physical media, especially on the horror side. But Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski also serve up some Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon and Larry David for you. But yes, horror, of course. This week you have Hammer horror from Frankenstein to anthologies, Adrian Lyne’s hell on Earth with Tim Robbins and Georges Franju’s classic tale of facial reconstruction. Also if you must there is a double feature presented by Joe Bob Briggs as well as films by Rob Zombie and Eli Roth. It’s all leading up to a trilogy for everyone as Erik talks about his favorite movie of all-time and why it remains so to this day.

4:17 - Criterion (Eyes Without a Face (4K))

10:22 - Severin (Asylum (4K))

16:51 - Lions Gate: Jacob’s Ladder 4K, The Devil’s Rejects 4K, Knock Knock 4K)

33:01 - Shudder (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs (Suitable Flesh/Mayhem))

39:09 - Warner Archive (Hollywood Legends of Horror, The Curse of Frankenstein (4K), Rafferty And The Gold Dust Twins)

1:01:27 - Kino (Boomerang (1976), Cop or Hood, Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (4K), The Bone Collector (4K)

1:21:55 - Universal (Back to the Future: 40th Anniversary Trilogy (4K))

1:46:48 – New TV on Blu-ray (Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete Series (2000-2024))

1:48:15 – New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (The Fantastic Four: First Steps (4K), Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (4K), Weapons (4K))

1:54:10 - New Blu-ray Announcements

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes

Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

Another October week and another ten movie reviews for you from Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy. They look a new rom-com with the star of the recent Strangers films (Maintenance Required) and a new Dakota Fanning horror film from the director of the original Strangers (Vicious). They go back a couple Sundances for a father/daughter story amidst the AIDS crisis (Fairyland), the same era that gave us the inspiration for a new ‘80s remake (Deathstalker). On the documentary front after Raoul Peck scares you into where our country is today (Orwell: 2+2=5) you can curl up with a film about a comic legend (John Candy: I Like Me). Jennifer Lopez takes center stage in a musical version of an Oscar winner (Kiss of the Spider Woman) while Keira Knightley tries to solve a mystery on a yacht (The Woman In Cabin 10). Finally, Channing Tatum is a criminal on the lam in a Toys ‘R’ Us (Roofman) and we go back to the world of the grid, this time with Jared Leto (Tron: Ares)

3:53 - Maintenance Required

13:23 - Vicious

23:37 - Fairyland

30:53 - Deathstalker

41:21 - Orwell: 2+2=5

50:24 - John Candy: I Like Me

59:32 - Kiss of the Spider Woman

1:08:43 - The Woman In Cabin 10

1:19:17 - Roofman

1:30:15 - Tron: Ares

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes

Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

This week in physical media with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski features films for its rabid fanbases as well as a string of live-action big screen failures and Schwarzenegger battling for the devil. Jennifer Lopez tries to get an Oscar and the world is introduced to Mario Bava. Westerns got a bit of a revival 40 years ago and this week features an upgrade to the best of them as well as Sam Raimi’s attempt ten years later to try to have his own fun with the genre. There is an incredible Peanuts set for all ages and a bookend that includes David Lynch’s derided and reappraised big-screen prequel to his legendary TV show and the film that has been bringing together audiences for 50 years.

5:04 - Criterion (Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (4K))

18:14 - Sony (Silverado (4K Steelbook), The Quick and the Dead (1995) (4K Steelbook))

35:09 - Lionsgate (Hustlers (4K))

41:14 - Arrow (Spawn (4K))

46:49 - Paramount (Aeon Flux (4K))

54:02 - Shout (Black Sunday (4K), End of Days (4K), The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (4K))

1:14:11 - Disney (The Rocky Horror Picture Show (4K))

1:32:30 - New TV on Blu-ray (Peanuts: Ultimate TV Specials Collection, The Walking Dead: Dead City - Season Two)

1:34:19 - New Theatrical Titles On Blu-ray (F1: The Movie (4K), Nobody 2 (4K), The Bad Guys 2 (4K), I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) (4K), Dangerous Animals (4K), The Last Rodeo, When Fall is Coming, Honey Don’t!)

1:39:51 - New Blu-ray Announcements

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes

Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

It is a packed week of reviews on the show with Erik Childress and Steve Prokopy, an even dozen in fact. They include one of the best documentaries of the year (Predators) and a film as bad as The Substance is good (Shell). Steve looks at Daniel Day-Lewis’ return to the big screen (Anemone) while Erik looks at a charming family film about competitive pumpkin gardening (Grow). It’s also October so that must mean horror. So there’s another terror-filled tale about double-booking (Bone Lake) as well as the family that must barricade at home for the terror outside (Coyotes). There’s a scary film from the POV of a canine (Good Boy) and another in the long-running anthology series (V/H/S Halloween). Cillian Murphy works at a home for trouble youth (Steve) and Matthew McConaughey tries to save children from one of the worst wildfires in history (The Lost Bus). Mark Wahlberg takes on a character played by the likes of Lee Marvin, Mel Gibson and Jason Statham in the latest from Shane Black (Play Dirty) and Wahlberg’s Pain and Gain co-star, Dwayne Johnson, plays one of the early stars of MMA fighting (The Smashing Machine).

(NOTE: Apologies for some of the audio quality this week. Not sure what occurred and tried to clean up the best I could.)

3:33 - Predators

15:19 - Shell

21:09 - Anemone

29:23 - Grow

36:07 - Bone Lake

43:54 - Coyotes

54:49 - Good Boy

1:02:42 - V/H/S Halloween

1:11:53 - Steve

1:20:56 - Play Dirty

1:34:32 - The Lost Bus

1:45:22 - The Smashing Machine

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes

Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.

Collections are the thing in this week’s look at physical media with Erik Childress and Peter Sobczynski. Criterion has nearly the entire oeuvre of Wes Anderson. Vinegar Syndrome has a pair of Larry Fessenden works while Universal has packaged up a bunch of Draculas in 4K. Kino has a bunch of Dan Curtis and the Airport films while Warner Bros. has Freddy Krueger in a new 4K set. There is also the shorts of Creepshow, the beginning of American Pie and Yorgo Lanthimos plus one of the great action films of the new millennium that you may have missed.

3:40 - Criterion (Isle of Dogs (4K), The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (4K) , The Wes Anderson Archive In 4K (Ten Films, Twenty-Five Years))

15:02 - Warner Archive (Black Samson)

20:29 - Arrow (The Good, the Bad, the Weird (4K), Creepshow 2 (4K))

34:08 - Universal (American Pie (4K), Dracula: Complete Legacy Collection (4K))

53:36 - WB (A Nightmare on Elm Street Collection (4K))

1:10:01 - Shout Factory (Mama (4K))

Kino (Dogtooth (4K), Dan Curtis’ Late-Night Mysteries, Airport (4K), Airport 1975 (4K), Airport ‘77 (4K), Airport ‘79: The Concorde (4K))

Vinegar Syndrome (Of Monsters and Madness: The Films of Larry Fessenden Vol. 2)

TV (Touche Turtle and Dum Dum (The Complete Series))

NEW (The Life of Chuck (4K), Becoming Led Zeppelin (4K), Just the Two of Us)

CLICK ON THE FILMS TO RENT OR PURCHASE AND HELP OUT THE MOVIE MADNESS PODCAST

Be sure to check out

Erik’s Weekly Box Office Column – At Rotten Tomatoes

Critics’ Classics Series – At Elk Grove Cinema in Elk Grove Village, IL

Chicago Screening Schedule - All the films coming to theaters and streaming

Physical Media Schedule - Click & Buy upcoming titles for your library.

(Direct purchases help the Movie Madness podcast with a few pennies.)

Erik’s Linktree - Where you can follow Erik and his work anywhere and everywhere.

The Movie Madness Podcast has been recognized by Million Podcasts as one of the Top 100 Best Movie Review Podcasts as well as in the Top 60 Film Festival Podcasts and Top 100 Cinephile Podcasts. MillionPodcasts is an intelligently curated, all-in-one podcast database for discovering and contacting podcast hosts and producers in your niche perfect for PR pitches and collaborations.