'Hearts of Darkness' Finally On DVD

Finally Paramount is releasing Eleanor Coppola's 'Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse' on DVD on 11/20. This is the amazing documentary that Coppola's wife made while Francis was making 'Apocalypse Now'. It is among the best making of's of a film ever made. This isn't the glamor filled lifestyle of making movies. It's the dirt and grime of making one.

The DVD will have an audio commentary with Francis and Eleanor Coppola plus a documentary called 'CODA: Thirty Years Later' which continues the story, plus an introduction to CODA by Eleanor. Even if you don't like 'Apocalypse Now' you will love this documentary.

Rob Zombie's Halloween DVD Details

From Fangoria.com:

The Weinstein Company and Genius Entertainment gave Fango the first word on the final specs for its DVD releases of Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN, coming December 18. The movie will be issued in both the R-rated theatrical version and a widescreen director’s cut running 11 minutes longer; the former will be presented in both widescreen and fullscreen, while the latter will be letterboxed only, and all will have Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks. Both will be double-disc editions chock full of special features:

• Audio commentary by writer/director Zombie
• 17 deleted scenes with optional Zombie commentary
• Alternate ending
• Re-Imagining HALLOWEEN documentary
• A Conversation With Rob Zombie featurette
• Meet the Cast featurette
• The Many Masks of Michael Myers featurette
• Bloopers
• Casting session footage
• Laurie Strode screen test

Retail price for both versions will be $29.95; cover art is coming any day now! —Michael Gingold

A Few Things

I attended the Music Box Massacre III 24 hour marathon this past weekend at The Music Box theatre here in Chicago. It was a great time and I got to meet Fred Dekker (writer and director of 'Night of the Creeps' and 'The Monster Squad') and Coralina Cataldi Tassoni (star of 'Demons 2' and is in Dario Aregento's 'Opera' and the upcoming Third Mother movie). I definitely need sleep afterwards but it was a blast.

Today 'Planet Terror' came out on DVD. I can't recommend it enough.

Casting for my film is coming along. I have so many headshots it's insane. I will be doing auditions in the next week or two. I'll be starting a blog to cover just the film so I'll link it when it's ready.

I Am Still Here

Sorry about not being around much lately. I am hard at work on my own film which is taking up a lot of my time. I will be starting a blog to cronicle that so I will link to it once it is set up.

New 'Evil Dead' Special Edition DVD

A new edition of 'The Evil Dead' is heading to DVD again. Still no 'Within The Woods' though but I heard it was due to some kind of rights issue which is why it's never been released. Anyhow, for the 126th time we have another release of Sam Raimi's classic but it does seem like a great edition. Originally this was going to be in a special packaging shaped like the cabin. Not sure if they are still doing that or not. Here is the release thanks to Fangoria.com.

Anchor Bay Entertainment gave Fango the first word on the specs for THE EVIL DEAD ULTIMATE EDITION, which streets December 18. Yep, it’s another DVD release of Sam Raimi’s classic, and this one’s by far the most fully loaded of the bunch: a three-disc package with a wealth of new features. The movie itself will be presented in both widescreen on Disc One and full-frame on Disc Two; here’s what you’ll get supplement-wise:

Disc One:
• One by One We Will Take You: The Untold Saga of THE EVIL DEAD: new featurette
• Audio commentary by writer/director Raimi and producer Robert Tapert

Disc Two:
• THE EVIL DEAD: Treasures from the Cutting Room Floor: new collection of reconstructed and restored deleted scenes
• Audio commentary by star Bruce Campbell

Disc Three:
• Life After Death: The Ladies of THE EVIL DEAD: new featurette with Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker and Theresa Tilly
• The Ladies of THE EVIL DEAD Meet Bruce Campbell: new chat between Sandweiss, Baker, Tilly and Bruce
• Unconventional: new featurette in which cast and crew discuss horror conventions and more
• At the Drive-In: new no-holds-barred Q&A with a drive-in audience of hardcore fans
• Reunion Panel: new featurette spotlighting the once-in-a-lifetime gathering at Chicago’s Flashback Weekend
• Discovering THE EVIL DEAD: featurette on THE EVIL DEAD’s British home video release and its place in the “Video Nasties” debate
• Makeup test
• Trailer
• TV spots
• Still gallery
• Poster/memorabilia gallery

Plus an Easter egg or two. Definitely worth the upgrade, wouldn’t you say? Retail price for all this is $34.97; cover art is coming soon. —Michael Gingold