Adam takes stock of the year that was 2018 in boutique home video releases and counts down the best the year has to offer.
2018 much like 2017 was supposedly the year that Phsyical Media died. Never mind we have a blossoming new format in 4K UHD. Never mind the fact that we have Botique labels doing some of the best work they’ve ever done. Never mind that said Botique labels are finally getting access to some of the bigger studio fare.
Like in 2017, this is all a rumpus to get clicks. Physical Media isn’t going anywhere. It may cost you more. It may be something like Vinyl that is slowly becoming a niche market but its not dying. Soon those that love to stream will loose the simple access to their beloved titles, something that a Disc Collector doesn’t have a problem with, and many will turn back to physical media.
I’m not here to bully pulpit you guys. We’re here to celebrate the year that was the best releases of 2018 and there was a ton. We here on the site review closed to 120+ titles alone. There were hundreds of releases, almost too many too count and watch. But I’ve whittled it down to 25 titles this year; 15 runnerups, 10 top picks, No cheats this year, or ties. This list does not include any Box Sets released this year, just single film releases. You can read our Box Set best of list here.
Without further ado…
The Runner Up List:
25. Urban Legends: Final Cut (Scream Factory)
24. Urban Legend (Scream Factory)
23. Cliffhanger UHD 4k (Studio Canal)
22. Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno (Arrow Academy)
21. Basket Case (Arrow Video)
20. Deadbeat at Dawn (Arrow Video)
19. The ‘Burbs (Shout Select)
18. Charlie Varrick (Indicator Series)
17. The Strangers (Scream Factory)
16. The Cat O’ Nine Tails (Arrow Video)
15. Bound (Olive Signature Series)
14. The Day of the Jackal (Arrow Video)
13. The S of the Lambs (Criterion Collection)
12. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Olive Signature Series)
11. Wild at Heart (Shout Select)
And now onto the Top Ten Blu-Rays of 2018…
10. Scalpel (Arrow Video)
Discoveries are a major part of my top ten lists of Blu-Rays every year. Part of the fun of being a critic, and film fan is that you get films to review that you know little or nothing about. Scalpel is one of those films. From the moment I saw it over a hot spring Sunday afternoon I knew that I saw a new favorite. Director John Grissmer has created a Southern Gothic Noir that’s just the right side of kink and overwrought melodrama. Arrow Video has included a host of great extras but it’s the amazing transfers they’ve included. Yes, transfers as in two transfers both differently color corrected.
9. Zombie (Blue Underground)
Lucio Fulci is a mad genius. Zombie is proof personified of this. Blue Underground has given us everything and the kitchen sink with regards to special features. It is the transfer though that is the crow jewel of this set. The 4K remaster of the negative is drop-dead gorgeous (pun intended).
8. 12 Monkeys (Arrow Video)
This is the Terry Gilliam film that continues to grow in esteem for me. Time Travel when done right is one of the most satisfying sub genres in film. Most times the time travel is used to create a pop confection of the highest order (see: Back to the Future). Gilliam and screenwriters Janet and Davide Peoples have created a film that is designed to emotionally devastate. Arrow Video have produced a disc that is worthy of the film. Including both archival features, new features, and a new 2K transfer that glows.
7. The Hot Rock (Twilight Time)
Another discovery. This was actually the first film that I watched on my new TV. Talk about a film that’s designed to please. The Hot Rock might well turn out to be one of my favorite crime films ever. I mean you have Robert Redford better than he’s ever been… cooler than he’s ever been. Add a cracklingly good William Goldman script (from a Donald Westlake novel), lean economical direction by Peter Yates, and an all-time supporting performance by George Segal. Twilight Time has included a commentary, isolated score (a great Quincy Jones one), and theatrical trailer.
6. The Changeling (Severin Films)
I had heard of The Changeling for twenty years. Yes, twenty years. I did not think it would live up to its reputation.
Wow. I. Was. Wrong.
The Changeling represents modern horror filmmaking forty years before modern horror filmmaking happened. An emotional story about loss that’s as scary as anything you’ll see… sounds like Heredity right? Without The Changeling movies like Hereditary would never happen or exist. Severin Films has loaded this truly special film with truly special features and a wonder 4K transfer.
5. Valley Girl (Shout Select)
Some will think that this placement is weird for me. A Rom Com in Adam’s Top Ten Blu-Ray choices? He hates Rom Coms. Well, that isn’t true. I don’t hate Rom Coms. Let us clarify… I had bad Rom Coms. Which are about a dime a dozen. Martha Coolidge’s Valley Girl is an all-time great Rom Com. Romeo and Juliet by way of Punk Rock and Valley culture. Something this reviewer here is very very very close to (writer’s note: I’ve lived my entire life in fabled “The Valley” of Valley Girl). The film gets the deluxe treatment by Shout Factory via their Shout Select Label it so rightfully deserves.
4. Candyman (Scream Factory)
Candyman only gets better with age. Scream Factory has gone above and beyond with the property knowing that this is a stone-cold classic to the horror community. Two versions spread across two discs along with a host of commentaries, making-of featurettes, interviews, and trailers. It is ultimately the beautiful transfers that makes this disc. Horror Fans can now trade in their old DVDs for a truly worthy new edition.
3. Night of the Living Dead (Criterion Collection)
This one is simple math. A classic that hasn’t had a proper release because of the crappy “Copy Right Issues”. Criterion Collection, along with MoMA (that’s the Museum of Modern Art for those not in the know), create the defining edition of this film. They go one step further and have restored the film to perfection using the original negative. Criterion has outdone themselves with the extras here. Commentaries, documentaries, interviews, and a different edition of the film (which is terrible but still a fascinating inclusion). It’s the quality and respect they pay to this all-time classic film that makes this a truly special release.
2. Maniac (Blue Underground)
Bill Lustig’s Maniac will not be for everyone. It’s profane, ugly, grimy, and any other sort of descriptive you can put to a serial killer film. But… its what truly gives this film its power. Lustig and his star Joe Spinell have made a movie of uncommon power because they do not glamorize this character’s actions. Blue Underground’s newly minted 4K transfer from the original negative is revelatory. This is a huge compliment considering in 2010 they created a 2K remaster from a different source that was also stellar during its era. Blue Underground has included an additional disc of special features that are on the level of Criterion’s thoughtful extras. They manage to give context and understanding of the film that was made.
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey UHD 4K (Warner Bros.)
We saved the best for last. Yes, that’s right. The best disc has nothing to do with its special features and everything to do with its transfer. For as much as sing the praises of special features, commentaries, director’s cuts, if the film has a subpar transfer what’s the use? This disc represents possibly the best of the very best of what is possible with UHD technology. Watching 2001: A Space Odyssey on my new TV was the first time I felt like I was watching a film in the theater. It wasn’t the clarity, or the color, or the contrast but the grain… the grain felt chemical. Even the very best Blu-Ray discs do not come close to a bad UHD of a Shot-On-Film movies. 2001 is the very best. It is one of those, “you have to see to believe”.