The Corner Penthouse

Looking for a last minute holiday gift for your video-loving family or friends? Well, let me run down a few items that have come out in the past few months that would be perfect for the person who loves horror and thriller movies.

All of the items below have already been released and are available for purchase from Amazon at the links provided. The Corner Penthouse will earn a very tiny commission from your purchase using these links.



• BUY IT: Blu-ray, DVD.

• SYNOPSIS: When tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) meets cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) at his fundraising gala, sparks fly. He invites her to join him and his friends on a dream vacation on his private island. It's paradise. Wild nights blend into sun soaked days and everyone's having a great time. No one wants this trip to end, but as strange things start to happen, Frida begins to question her reality. There is something wrong with this place. She'll have to uncover the truth if she wants to make it out of this party alive.

• SPECIAL FEATURES: None.

• RATING: R for strong violent content, sexual assault, drug use and language throughout, and some sexual references.

• CREDIT: This item has been provided by MGM/Warner Brothers for review on this site.



• BUY IT: 4K UHD, 4K Steelbook, Blu-ray.

• SYNOPSIS: Soulmates Eric (Bill Skarsgard) and Shelly (FKA twigs) are brutally murdered when the demons of her dark past catch up with them. Given the chance to save his true love by sacrificing himself, Eric sets out to seek merciless revenge on their killers, traversing the worlds of the living and the dead to put the wrong things right.

• SPECIAL FEATURES: All of the content below can be found on both the 4K and Blu-ray discs.

• True Love Never Dies: Making The Crow (1:05:56) - A multi-part documentary featuring a few interviews with cast and crew. It is broken down into six parts: Chapter One - The Emotional Engine: Origins", "Chapter Two - Body & Soul: The Cast", "Chapter Three - Modern Gothic: Character/Costume/Production Design", "Chapter Four - Between Two Worlds: On Location", "Chapter Five - Vengeance Incarnate: Action & Stunts", and "Chapter Six - Sacrifice: Final Thoughts".
• Dark Romance: The Score (11:27) - An interview with composer Volker Betelmann.
• Reborn Through Revenge: Main Title Sequence (2:06) - A look at the stylish opening credits.
• Every Film is a Miracle: A Tribute to Edward R. Pressman (11:08) - A featurette devoted to the producer.
• Deleted Scenes (5:53)
• Theatrical Trailer (3:08)

• RATING: R for strong bloody violence, gore, language, sexuality/nudity, and drug use.

• NOTES: The original, and much better, 1994 film starring Brandon Lee is available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD. It was followed by the sequels: The Crow: City of Angels, The Crow: Salvation, and The Crow: Wicked Prayer (DVD set for the three OOP sequels). There was also a short lived television series entitled The Crow: Stairway to Heaven. Some video clips for the 2024 film have been provided by Lionsgate: Creating Eric, The Crow Coat, Shelly's Look, The Loft, Everything is a Color, The Crow's Makeup, Prague: True Gothic City, Music Blends for Emotional Scenes, and Deleted Scene.

• CREDIT: This item has been provided by Lionsgate for review on this site.



• BUY IT: 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD.

• SYNOPSIS: Young Jim Halsey (C. Thomas Howell) stops on the highway to pick up a hitchhiker, not knowing that by doing so, he opens the door to terrible evil. The mysterious hitcher, John Ryder (Rutger Hauer), is a relentless slaughterer, preying on those who invite him into their lives.

• SPECIAL FEATURES: All of the content below can be found on the 4K disc.

• Audio Commentary - with director Robert Harmon and screenwriter Eric Red.
• Bullseye (41:29) - A 2024 interview with director Robert Harmon, produced by Second Sight.
• Theatrical Trailer (1:28)

• RATING: R.

• NOTES: This 4K disc from Warner Brothers (and the separate Blu-ray disc) are budget releases of the region-free 4K and Blu-ray from UK company Second Sight. Second Sight's more-packed releases are available as a 4K only release, a Blu-ray only release, and in a combo pack with a Blu-ray disc and some physical extras. If you can afford to pay extra for a foreign import, either of those is the better option. If you're more interested in the movie itself than having a lot of extras, then Warner's disc will get the job done.

• CREDIT: This item has been provided by Warner Brothers for review on this site.



• BUY IT: Recorded Blu-ray, Pressed Blu-ray, Unrated DVD, Rated DVD.

• SYNOPSIS: When a group of tight-knit college friends visit the site of an undisturbed Mayan ruin, they stumble into an ancient trap. An unspoken evil waiting to drag its victims into an endless nightmare. As fear and paranoia eat away at their sanity, their only chance at escape is to commit the unthinkable. Experience The Ruins, Unrated with shocking new scenes too intense for theaters, and a disturbing climax you will never forget.

• SPECIAL FEATURES: All of the content below can be found on the Blu-ray disc.

• Audio Commentary - with director Carter Smith and editor Jeff Betancourt.
• Making the Ruins (14:23) - An examination of the film's challenges, such as the differences between the novel and the shooting script.
• Creeping Death (15:05) - The making of the film's "enemy" and various special and gory effects.
• Building the Ruins (6:20) - The building of the film's primary set.
• Deleted Scenes (11:46) - Includes "Rain", "Celebration", "Going Over the Escape Plan", "Alternate Ending", and "Original Theatrical Ending". All with optional commentary by Smith and Betancourt.
• Theatrical Trailer (1:15)

• RATING: R for strong violence and gruesome images, language, some sexuality and nudity.

• NOTES: For a comparison between the Theatrical and Unrated versions, see this report. If you want a pressed disc, you'll need to pick up the older release, which uses the same disc master as this new MOD disc that I'm reviewing. (As an FYI: The release I'm reviewing is a Manufacture On Demand Recorded Blu-ray, not a factory-pressed disc. If online artwork and the case spine says "Blu-ray Disc" in plain text, it's a BD-R recorded disc. If it has a Blu-ray logo, it's a factory-pressed disc. If you have the disc in hand, a purple bottom is a recorded disc, and a silver bottom is a pressed disc.)

• CREDIT: This item has been provided by Paramount for review on this site.



• BUY IT: 4K UHD, 4K Steelbook, Blu-ray, MGM DVD.

• SYNOPSIS: Disguised as a human, a cyborg assassin known as a Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) travels from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). Sent to protect Sarah is Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), who divulges the coming of Skynet, an artificial intelligence system that will spark a nuclear holocaust. Sarah is targeted because Skynet knows that her unborn son will lead the fight against them. With the virtually unstoppable Terminator in hot pursuit, she and Kyle attempt to escape.

• SPECIAL FEATURES: All of the content below can be found on the 4K disc.

• Deleted Scenes (9:59) - The seven scenes include "Wholesome Sarah", "Wrong Sarah", "Lt Traxler's Arc", "Sarah Fights Back", "Making Bombs", "Tickling Reese", and "The Factory". The scenes are presented with optional commentary from James Cameron. NOTE: The scenes are NOT labeled on this 4K disc; I pulled the titles from the DVD release.
• Creating the Terminator: Visual Effects and Music (12:58) - A vintage featurette from 2001.
• The Terminator: Closer to the Real Thing (11:56) - A vintage featurette from 2005.
• Unstoppable Force: The Legacy of The Terminator (9:38) - A vintage featurette from 2005.

• RATING: R.

• NOTES: As expected, all of the great extras from the original 2001 dual-sided MGM DVD, which were never ported over to Blu-ray, and could have been reinstated here, are still missing. Also missing is the "Terminator: A Retrospective" featurette (20:31) from both 2006 & 2013 Blu-rays is also missing.

If you'd like to complete your Terminator collection, you'll want to buy these 4K and Blu-ray releases: Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) 4K+Blu-ray (4K reviewed here), Terminator 3: Rise of The Machines (2003) Blu-ray, Terminator Salvation (2009) 4K+Blu-ray, Terminator: Genisys (2015) 4K+Blu-ray, Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) 4K+Blu-ray (4K reviewed here), The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Season 1 (2008) Blu-ray, and The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Season 2 (2009) Blu-ray.

There is no 4K collection of all six films, only Blu-ray and DVD. I don't know what discs and extras it contains, as I have the Terminator Anthology Blu-ray, which contains the first four films.

• CREDIT: This item has been provided by Warner Brothers for review on this site.



• BUY IT: 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD.

• SYNOPSIS: A father and teen daughter attend a pop concert, where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.

• SPECIAL FEATURES: All of the content below can be found on the 4K disc.

• Setting the Trap: A New M. Night Shayamalan Experience (4:08)
• Saleka as Lady Raven (5:08)
• Deleted Scenes (6:16) - Includes "Cooper Gets Stopped by SWAT", "Riley Shows Lady Raven Her Room", "Cooper Takes a Hostage and Slips Away".
• Extended Concert Scene: Where Did She Go (3:29)

• RATING: PG-13 for some violent content and brief strong language.

• CREDIT: This item has been provided by Warner Brothers for review on this site.



• BUY IT: 4K UHD, 4K UHD Steelbook, Blu-ray, Blu-ray Digibook, DVD 2-Disc 50th Anniv.

• SYNOPSIS: While leaving New York's Plaza Hotel, advertising executive Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) has the misfortune of raising his hand just as the name "George Kaplan" is paged -- starting a lethal case of mistaken identity and a nonstop game of cat and mouse as he is pursued across North America by espionage agents trying to kill him -- and by police who suspect him of murder.

• SPECIAL FEATURES: All of the content below can be found on the 4K disc.

• Audio Commentary - with writer Ernest Lehman, recorded in 2000.
• North by Northwest: Cinematography, Score, and the Art of the Edit (23:06) - A 2024 featurette.
• Destination Hitchcock: the Making of North by Northwest (39:26) - A 2000 documentary.
• The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style (57:31) - A 2009 documentary.
• North by Northwest: One for the Ages (25:30) - A 2009 featurette.
• A Guided Tour with Alfred Hitchcock Trailer (3:16)

• RATING: Not Rated.

• NOTES: It should be noted that these previous Blu-ray & DVD extras are missing: Isolated Score track, "Cary Grant: A Class Apart" 2004 documentary (87:12), Stills Gallery (5:52), TV Spot (1:02), and Theatrical Trailer (2:13). If U.S. Warners included a Blu-ray disc, like the U.K. branch does, all of this stuff would have been included.

• CREDIT: This item has been provided by Warner Brothers for review on this site.

If you're looking for more gift ideas, check out all of the other items I've reviewed recently. I review a variety of items, so I'm sure you'll find something quite suitable for your friends and family, or maybe even yourself. Yeah, why not treat yourself this holiday season.