Cinema Head Cheese's "Best Blu-rays & DVDs of 2013"

If you're wondering at all what we at Cinema Head Cheese think are the essential genre releases are for 2013, look no further than the list below containing the best Blu-rays and DVDs of this past year. These are the cream of the crop, so make sure that you make them a part of your collection!

The Vincent Price Collection (Scream Factory)

Skull World - Warrior Edition (Unstable Ground Pictures)

Cinema Head Cheese: The Podcast! #127 - Low-Rent Stupidery

Kevin and Jeff talk about the passing of Something Weird Video's Mike Vraney. They also discuss situations in which those who seek criticism can't handle it.

They list their favorite films of 2013, giving details on why you should watch each one.

Click here to listen or right click and choose "Save Link As..." to download.

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Movie Review: House On Straw Hill (1976, Blu-ray/DVD combo, Severin)

Review By: Rob Sibley

Let me start off by saying I've been trying to track this film down since I was thirteen years old. I was twelve when I first saw "Blood for Dracula" which started my love for all things Udo Kier. I searched and searched for this film with no luck. Thirteen years later, finally the film sees the light of day in the U.S. on glorius Blu-ray no less from Severin. Which is a company run by fans for fans of cult cinema.

This release was easily the most anticipated release of 2013 for me. I mean waiting and searching 13 years for a film and then finally to see it announced I was nothing short of amazed. Now thirteen years is a lot of time to build up hype and expectations. Did the film live up to it's name, was it deserving the video nasty label and being banned? No, it should have been banned. Despite some violence and an abundance of excellent nudity, the film is directed with pure class by James Kenelm Clarke. Who's only film I was familiar with was "Let's get laid" starring sex kitten Fiona Richmond.

My Best & Worst of 2013

By: Rob Sibley

2013 has been a surprisingly good year for horror & cult films in general. Tis the season so I decided to put together a list of my top ten favorite films of the year. Also included is a list of films I felt didn't live up to the expectations I had for them.

2013 compared to 2012 was night and day. Last year I had to struggle to think up any decent horror flicks. For a recap of my list last and year and all my fellow CHC buddies listen to the hilarious http://cinemaheadcheese.blogspot.com/2012/12/cinema-head-cheese-podcast-77-best-of.html

This is a year that I am proud to be a horror fan and a genre fan in general.

Movie Review: Jail Bait (2014, DVD)

Review By: Rob Sibley

 This is what I'm talking about, this film easily makes it onto my best of list for 2013. I know you are going to see the "Asylum" name and just assume, "Okay, they ripped off Orange Is the New Black". Not the case here, Jailbait is based on a graphic novel and has nothing to do with "Orange". Which was a highly overrated TV show for an audience who wasn't familiar with women in prison flicks.

Jared Cohn directed this, an Asylum regular director of 12/12/12/, Hold Your Breath and Atlantic Rim to name a few. The film stars an up and coming actress Sara Malakul Lane, who is building up an impressive resume of performances. She got her start in the underrated Seagal film shot in Thailand "Belly of the Beast". She also was the star of 12/12/12 in which she gave a solid performance despite all the craziness that so-rounded her.

Movie Review: Only God Forgives (2013)

Review By: Rob Sibley

I'm going to say this upfront, you are either going to love or hate this film. Nicolas Winding Refn returns with his latest film “Only God Forgives”. Refn made his first film back in 1996, the excellent “Pusher”. But the film that put him on a lot of peoples maps was 2011's “Drive”. Drive quickly has become a cult hit and Ryan Gosling's stoic character of “Driver” surely has become one of the more memorable anti-heros of the last decade. Drive could have been your typical mainstream crime & fast cars flick (Fast and Furious I'm looking at you.) But thanks to to Refn's excellent direction the film became it's own beast. With Only God Forgives Refn tackles a genre that's been done to death, the revenge film and once again has put his own unique spin on it.

Like I said earlier, you're either going to love or hate this film. I also can't express enough, don't go in expecting Drive 2. The only connection is Refn & Gosling, the similarities end there. To me if anything I felt almost like I was watching a spiritual sequel to the Refn film “Fear X”. Fear X was made back in 2003 & was written by none other then the great Hubert Selby Jr. It was sadly dumped DTV in the US. It pretty much bombed world wide and nearly made Refn's production company go bankrupt. To save himself Refn made Pusher 2 & 3 for the sole purpose to pull his production company out of debt. Fear X featured an oscar worthy performance from John Tuturro.

Movie Review: The Burning (1981, Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack)

Review By: Rob Sibley

1981 was a monumental year for horror films and in my opinion. 81 saw the release of some of the best of the genre. Evil Dead was finally hitting theaters, American Werewolf in London was turning heads with it's ground breaking special FX and hybrid of horror and comedy. Jason Vorhees was rising up from the grave... well water for Friday the 13^th part II and Barbara Hershey was dealing with one rapey ghost in The Entity. Horror fans had a lot of films and it's various sub-genres to sink their teeth into in 81. But the biggest of all the sub-genres had to be the slasher film, some say Carpenter's Halloween started it, others say Black Christmas or Friday the 13th. I'm not going to involve myself in that discussion. But I will say without a doubt in my mind, Mario Bava's 1971 Italian classic “A Bay of Blood” got the ball rolling. Boy o boy that ball sure rolling in the 80's, it seems like every week a new slasher picture was hitting the multiplexes. Dousing the screen with enough blood & T&A to keep any warm blooded young man happy.

So many slasher films were produced back then that we still are discovering some of them to this day. Let me go back to 1981 for a minute, for the slasher film the year saw two huge sequels. Halloween II & Friday the 13^th part II. It also saw the release of such gems as Jeff Leibermans Just Before Dawn, Joe Zito's The Prowler, Tobe Hooper's The Fun House, My Bloody Valentine and many many more. Of coarse with such a large amount of films of the same ilk being released some of those are bound to sadly go a tad unnoticed. One of those films was the slasher classic “The Burning”. Featuring FX work by Tom Savini (Who famously turned down Friday 2 to work on this one) and stylish direction by Tony Maylam makes this one a cut above the rest.

Movie Review: The Telephone Book (1971, Blu-ray / DVD Combo)

Seeking out hard-to-find cult gems has been a chore for a few films in particular on my wish-list over the past couple decades. When I've found them, it’s incredibly satisfying. Brian Trenchard-Smith's Stunt Rock and The Telephone Book are two titles that have seemed to evade me for the longest time. That is, until Stunt Rock got a release a few years ago on a special edition DVD. Now, in 2013, thanks to the folks at Vinegar Syndrome we have the Blu-ray / DVD combo release of Nelson Lyon’s rarely seen X-rated comedy The Telephone Book. Watching Stunt Rock upon its release on DVD, I liked what I saw in the Aussie obscurity, just wasn’t blown away by it. The Telephone Book is a completely different story.

Sarah Kennedy plays “Alice” the adorable and quirky lead of The Telephone Book. Alice receives a phone call one day that changes her life, a very, very dirty phone call from a man by the name of John Smith (Norman Rose). Is she repulsed by this perverted man spouting sexual language at her on the other end of the line? Unlike most people, who would just hang up, she listens and enjoys every minute. After the phone call, this horny young gal is determined to find John Smith, even if it means going through every John Smith in Manhattan.