SDCC: 3 Future Scream Factory Blu-Ray Releases You’ve Got To Pick Up

Scream Factory, in the eyes of many horror movie lovers, is the undisputed champ of releasing rare and forgotten classics to Blu-ray, and their annual presence at San Diego Comic-Con has grown to include 10-film release announcements.

The 2015 SDCC is no exception and after much anticipation, the titles are here. I’ll start by giving you the three I’m most looking forward to, and then we’ll move in to the rest of the release schedule.

1. Blood and Lace

At the top of the list for yours truly is Blood and Lace, a surprisingly gruesome shocker from 1971. The synopsis (from IMDb) sums it up best.

“After her prostitute mother and her john are beaten to death while they are asleep in bed, teen-aged Ellie Masters is sent to an isolated orphanage run by Mrs. Deere and her handyman. Taking an avid interest in her welfare is detective Calvin Carruthers. Taking almost no interest at all, is social worker Harold Mullins who is completely under Mrs. Deere’s thumb. Lots of unpleasant surprises are in store for Ellie, not the least of which is the fact that Mrs. Deere and her handyman are both brutal sadists, who run the orphanage like a concentration camp and the strong possibility that her mother’s hammer-wielding killer is now stalking her.”

It’s been called the sickest PG movie ever made, and seriously, it deserves much worse than that, but this was before the ratings system had matured. There was just G, PG, R, and X. This definitely belongs in the R column. Also, watch for an evil Len Lesser as the handyman (you know, Uncle Leo from Seinfeld — “Hell-Looo!”)

2. Ghost Story

This ghostly horror-thriller based on the Peter Straub book is atmospheric and shocking. It features an unnerving Alice Krige and the great Fred Astaire and follows the adventures of the Chowder Society, a group of old men who live for scaring each other with their lurid horror tales. But then a specter of their dark past decides it’s time to take the old guys out, and so she does it one-by-one. This isn’t the first time Ghost Story has been released, but previous efforts have been cropped and somewhat poor on audio. This time around it gets the full Blu-ray treatment, and if past Scream Factory releases are any indication, this will be the ultimate edition.

3. Nightmares

This campy and fun horror anthology has also seen past releases on DVD (though only fair in quality). Scream Factory is sure to do right by it, and if you’ve never seen some of the shorts here, get ready. You’re in for a treat. While the video game segment with Emilio Estevez is somewhat dated, the rest of the film still holds up!

As for the rest of the slate, Fangoria reports that Scream Factory will also be releasing these titles: Bruno Mattei’s Women’s Prison Massacre; Troll / Troll 2 Double Feature; William Friedkin’s The Guardian; Elliot Silverstein’s The Car; Robert Zemeckis’ Death Becomes Her; The Garbage Pail Kids Movie; and a collectors’ edition release of zombie classic Return of the Living Dead.

Which Scream Factory titles are you most looking forward to, horror fans?

[Image via Fangoria]