Evil Dead Regeneration

Posted by Amazon.com: horror in Amazon.com on May 15, 2007 Evil Dead: Regeneration follows along with Ash, the hero of the Evil Dead movies. Ash is the only survivor of the evils unleashed by the Necronomicon, that night in the cabin. Ash is blamed for it and sent to the Sunny Meadows institute for the criminally insane. He thinks he's safe and can rest now, but the perverted experiments of Dr. Reinhard are about to change that.

Video Game: CD-ROMHell-bent on using science to harness the Necronomicon's powers, the mad doctor unleashes the book's all-powerful Evil on the world, Releasing a new slew of Deadites, monsters and spirits, twisting reality into a hellish strudel -- leaving Ash to get his chainsaw and shotgun to fight them off again
Company:Â THQÂ (2006-06-15)
List Price:Â $14.99
Amazon Price:Â $23.45
Used Price:Â $6.99

American McGee’s Alice

Posted by Amazon.com: horror in Amazon.com on May 15, 2007 A fierce and nasty fight for sanity and control turns into a lethal struggle for survival! When Alice answers a distressed summons to return to Wonderland, she barely recognizes the befouled setting. From the fungal rot of the Mushroom Forest to the infernal chemistry of the Mad Hatter's Domain and beyond, Wonderland festers to its core.

CD-ROM:Â
Company: Electronic Arts (2000-12-06)
List Price:Â $39.95
Amazon Price:Â $14.20
Used Price:Â $12.99

Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams

Posted by Amazon.com: horror in Amazon.com on May 15, 2007 Onimusha: Dawn Of Dreams brings the gaming masterpiece into a new era! It's a completely new chapter of the Onimusha legend, picking up 15 years after the original trilogy. Choose from 5 original playable characters as you embark on a new story, enshrouded in mystery and suspense. Stunning graphics, special effects and relentless, action-packed gameplay all combine to redefine this action epic.

Video Game: Choose from 5 new playable characters, Play 2 characters on the screen, at the same time, New co-op mode, Open-ended gaming environments - go back to previous levels to seach for additional items, Test of Valor to obtain new items not found within the game
Company:Â Capcom USAÂ (2006-08-07)
List Price:Â $29.99
Amazon Price:Â $26.68
Used Price:Â $17.62

Silent Hill 4: The Room

Posted by Amazon.com: horror in Amazon.com on May 15, 2007 Silent Hill 4: The Room offers a new cast and story, full of dark mysteries and horrendous new creatures. Henry Townshend is trapped in a cursed apartment. Mysterious portals have appeared in them, leading him to disturbing alternate worlds. This game is a terrifying experience that fans and newcomers will never forget.

Video Game: Face giant mutant wasps and dogs as you navigate through horrific, alien dimensions, Terrifying and more powerful new zombies that can walk through walls and float through the air, A cast of mysterious new characters -- some of whom will try to block your way, Stranger creatures are waiting for you, as you unravel a horrible story
Company: Konami (2006-06-15)
List Price:Â $29.99
Amazon Price:Â $25.59
Used Price:Â $17.99

Stargate Atlantis – The Complete Second Season

Posted by Amazon.com: horror in Amazon.com on May 15, 2007

If Stargate Atlantis isn't the coolest sci-fi series on television, this five-disc, 20-episode box set from the second season (2005-06) offers ample evidence that it's right up there. The writing is good; the stories are intriguing, and the science part of the equation is credible enough to justify our suspension of disbelief. The characters are for the most part well-defined, and the acting, while perhaps not Emmy-caliber, is just fine. The action is exciting, the effects work impressive, the costumes and sets first-rate. But what Atlantis really has going for it is the presence of some of the baddest bad guys in the cosmos: the Wraith.

With their flowing white locks, cat-like eyes, pale, almost translucent skin, and teeth so bad they'd make the British blush, the Wraith rock. They also have a constant need to feed--on humans, of course--and are a serious threat not only to Atlantis but to the entire known universe, including good ol' Earth. And although there are occasional diversions, the producers and writers have wisely kept the focus on these implacable antagonists; in fact, the newest member of the team, one Ronon Dex (played by the dreadlocked and hunky Jason Momoa), is a "runner" who escaped the Wraith's clutches, was a fugitive for years before being found by our heroes, and specializes in dispatching the villains with cold precision. In the course of the season, via single episodes and several multi-parters, the Stargate team, commanded by Dr. Elizabeth Weir (Torri Higginson in the show's least interesting role) and led by insouciant Major John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan), with genius-neurotic Dr. Rodney McKay (David Hewlett) handling the scientific intricacies and yet another doc, Carson Beckett (Paul McGillion, affecting a Scottish brogue), overseeing medical matters, deals with the enemy on many fronts. Lt. Ford (Rainbow Sun Francks) defects after assuming Wraith-like characteristics. The team experiments with a "retrovirus" designed to turn Wraiths into humans (the results are decidedly mixed). They encounter a human who raised a Wraith female from childhood and insists she's just like us (she's not). They're captured and imprisoned on a Wraith "hive" ship. And in the final episode, the humans and the Wraiths even form an alliance of supposedly mutual convenience (the episode is a cliffhanger that awaits resolution until Season Three, but anyone who thought this "partnership" was a good idea for our side clearly hasn't been paying attention). As was the case with the Season One set, bonus materials are generous, including audio commentary (by actors, directors, and others) on every episode, various featurettes, photos, and more. Now if only there were a few Wraith interviews... --Sam Graham

Hear How Beckett's Character Developed in this Exclusive Clip
Imagine Stargate Atlantis without Dr. Carson Beckett... finding it difficult?
After several screen-tests, the creators of the show did too, listen to them
tell you why Beckett became the prominent character that he is in Season Two.

Beyond Stargate Atlantis: The Complete Second Season

Stargate Atlantis: Rising (Pilot Episode)

The Complete Stargate Atlantis Collection

More Science-Fiction Television

Stills from Stargate Atlantis: The Complete Second Season

DVD: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Company: MGM (Video & DVD) (2007-03-06)
List Price: $49.98
Amazon Price: $22.81
Used Price: $23.91

Star Wars – Episode III, Revenge of the Sith (Widescreen Edition)

Posted by Amazon.com: horror in Amazon.com on May 15, 2007 The Star Wars saga is now complete on DVD with Episode III REVENGE OF THE SITH. Torn between loyalty to his mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the seductive powers of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker ultimately turns his back on the Jedi, thus completing his journey to the dark side and his transformation into Darth Vader. Experience the breathtaking scope of the final chapter in spectacular clarity and relive all the epic battles including the final climactic lightsaber duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan.

System Requirements:
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee
Directed By: George Lucas
Running Time: 140 Min.

Format: DVD MOVIE

DVD: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Company: 20th Century Fox (2005-11-01)
List Price:Â $19.98
Amazon Price:Â $12.49
Used Price:Â $5.95

The Lord of the Rings – The Motion Picture Trilogy (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)

Posted by Amazon.com: horror in Amazon.com on May 15, 2007 The extended editions of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings present the greatest trilogy in film history in the most ambitious sets in DVD history. In bringing J.R.R. Tolkien's nearly unfilmable work to the screen, Jackson benefited from extraordinary special effects, evocative New Zealand locales, and an exceptionally well-chosen cast, but most of all from his own adaptation with co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, preserving Tolkien's vision and often his very words, but also making logical changes to accommodate the medium of film. While purists complained about these changes and about characters and scenes left out of the films, the almost two additional hours of material in the extended editions (about 11 hours total) help appease them by delving more deeply into Tolkien's music, the characters, and loose ends that enrich the story, such as an explanation of the Faramir-Denethor relationship, and the appearance of the Mouth of Sauron at the gates of Mordor. In addition, the extended editions offer more bridge material between the films, further confirming that the trilogy is really one long film presented in three pieces (which is why it's the greatest trilogy ever--there's no weak link). The scene of Galadriel's gifts to the Fellowship added to the first film proves significant over the course of the story, while the new Faramir scene at the end of the second film helps set up the third and the new Saruman scene at the beginning of the third film helps conclude the plot of the second.

To top it all off, the extended editions offer four discs per film: two for the longer movie, plus four commentary tracks and stupendous DTS 6.1 ES sound; and two for the bonus material, which covers just about everything from script creation to special effects. The argument was that fans would need both versions because the bonus material is completely different, but the features on the theatrical releases are so vastly inferior that the only reason a fan would need them would be if they wanted to watch the shorter versions they saw in theaters (the last of which, The Return of the King, merely won 11 Oscars). The LOTR extended editions without exception have set the DVD standard by providing a richer film experience that pulls the three films together and further embraces Tolkien's world, a reference-quality home theater experience, and generous, intelligent, and engrossing bonus features. --David Horiuchi

Director:Â Peter Jackson
DVD: NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Company: New Line Home Entertainment (2004-12-14)
ISBN:Â 0780648676
List Price:Â $80.95
Amazon Price:Â $49.98
Used Price:Â $40.99

Buffy The Vampire Slayer – Collector’s Set (40 discs)

Posted by Amazon.com: horror in Amazon.com on May 15, 2007 From its charming and angst-ridden first season to the darker, apocalyptic final one, Buffy the Vampire Slayer succeeds on many levels, and in a fresher and more authentic way than the shows that came before or after it. How lucky, then, that with the release of its boxed set of seasons 1-7, you can have the estimable pleasure of watching a near-decade of Buffy in any order you choose. (And we have some ideas about how that should be done.)

First: rest assured that there's no shame in coming to Buffy late, even if you initially turned your nose up at the winsome Sarah Michelle Gellar kicking the hell out of vampires (in Buffy-lingo, vamps), demons, and other evil-doers. Perhaps you did so because, well, it looked sort of science-fiction-like with all that monster latex. Start with season 3 and see that Buffy offers something for everyone, and the sooner you succumb to it, the quicker you'll appreciate how textured and riveting a drama it is.

Why season 3? Because it offers you a winning cast of characters who have fallen from innocence: their hearts have been broken, their egos trampled in typically vicious high-school style, and as a result, they've begun to realize how fallible they are. As much as they try, there are always more monsters, or a bigger evil. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the core crew remains something of a unit--there's the smart girl, Willow (Alyson Hannigan) who dreams of saving the day by downloading the plans to City Hall's sewer tunnels and mapping a route to safety. There are the ne'r do wells--the vampire Spike (James Marsters), who both clashes with and aspires to love Buffy; the tortured and torturing Angel (David Boreanz); the pretty, popular girl with an empty heart (Charisma Carpenter); and the teenage everyman, Xander (Nicholas Brendon).

Then there's Buffy herself, who in the course of seven seasons morphs from a sarcastic teenager in a minidress to a heroine whose tragic flaw is an abiding desire to be a "normal" girl. On a lesser note, with the boxed set you can watch the fashion transformation of Buffy from mall rat to Prada-wearing, kickboxing diva with enviable highlights. (There was the unfortunate bob of season 2, but it's a forgivable lapse.) At least the storyline merits the transformations: every time Buffy has to end a relationship she cuts her hair, shedding both the pain and her vulnerability.

In addition to the well-wrought teenage emotional landscape, Buffy deftly takes on more universal themes--power, politics, death, morality--as the series matures in seasons 4-6. And apart from a few missteps that haven't aged particularly well ("I Robot" in season 1 comes to mind), most episodes feel as harrowing and as richly drawn as they did at first viewing. That's about as much as you can ask for any form of entertainment: that it offer an escape from the viewer's workaday world and entry into one in which the heroine (ideally one with leather pants) overcomes demons far more troubling than one's own. --Megan Halverson

Director:Â Joss Whedon
DVD: Box set, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Company: 20th Century Fox (2006-08-01)
List Price:Â $199.98
Amazon Price:Â $129.97
Used Price:Â $131.13

Ghost Rider – Extended Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Posted by Amazon.com: horror in Amazon.com on May 15, 2007 Once intended as a feature for Johnny Depp, the long-germinating feature film adaptation of Marvel Comics' cult title Ghost Rider stars Nicolas Cage as motorcyclist Johnny Blaze, who transforms into a skull-faced angel of vengeance to battle the forces of evil. Though perhaps a bit too mature for the role, Cage brings a degree of humor to the outrageous proceedings; he's well matched by the Easy Rider himself Peter Fonda, amusingly cast as Mephistopheles, the demon with whom Blaze strikes a bargain to save his father, and in turn, causes his transformation into Ghost Rider. Wes Bentley is also fine as Blackheart, the rebellious offspring of Mephistopheles, and Blazes' chief opponent in the film. They're joined by a solid supporting cast which includes Donal Logue, Eva Mendes, and Sam Elliott, but their participation and a relentless barrage of CGI effects can't hide the fact that the story itself, though largely faithful to its comic origins, is rife with clichéd characterizations and glum B-movie dialogue. Fans of the venerable title may cry foul over this adaptation (as they did over helmer Mark Steven Johnson's previous comic-to-movie feature, Daredevil), but less stringent viewers may enjoy the fiery visuals and Cage's typically quirky performance. --Paul Gaita

Stills from Ghost Rider (click for larger image)

Beyond Ghost Rider on Amazon.com

On Blu-ray

CD Soundtrack

Ghost Rider: Road To Damnation Graphic Novels

Director: Mark Steven Johnson
DVD: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Company: Sony Pictures (2007-06-12)
List Price: $34.95
Amazon Price: $23.99