BASKET CASE & HG Lewis's BLOOD TRILOGY Coming To Blu-ray 9/27

Words escape me on this announcement.  I'm a huge HG Lewis fan, and Frank Henenlotter's Basket Case is a classic of underground horror.  The fact that they're coming to Blu-ray shocks and excites me to no end!  In addition to the films in high definition, there are also a healthy number of bonus features as well as HD audio tracks, commentaries, and all sorts of goodies to go along with them. These discs, distributed by Image Entertainment, will be the first HD offerings from cult/exploitation mega label Something Weird Video, run by Basket Case's director, Frank Henenlotter.  Frank has been posting about his progress on Basket Case on Facebook pretty frequently, and I'm excited to finally see the results!  Image put out a massive press release, so I'm going to post it here, rather than trying to explain how awesome this news is:

Image Entertainment and Something Weird Invite You on an Outrageous Ride Through The Blood-Soaked World of a Legendary Filmmaker!

HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE DVD AND THE BLOOD TRILOGY BLU-RAY™

The Godfather of Gore Features Never-Before-Seen Interviews and Rare Footage; Blood Trilogy Blu-ray™ Special Edition Features Remastered Audio and Video;

Coming September 27th

Chatsworth, CA - He's been hailed as a visionary and as a provocateur. His films have legions of fans, and just as many detractors. In 1963, he introduced stunned audiences to a new kind of cinema with Blood Feast - and in the process single-handedly launched "splatter cinema." He is writer/director Herschell Gordon Lewis and he is truly the "Godfather of Gore." On September 27, Image Entertainment and Something Weird pay homage to a true cinematic legend with the DVD release of Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore, and the high definition premieres of grindhouse classics Blood Feast, Two Thousand Maniacs and Color Me Blood Red with The Blood Trilogy Blu-ray™ Special Edition!

With a $14.98 SRP for the DVD, and a $17.97 SRP for the Blu-ray™, fans will have a chance to not only explore the wild world of Lewis and his exploitation films, but they will be able to experience every splat, every slice and every drop of fake blood and guts in full 1080p glory! In addition, each release contains a crypt-full of special bonus features including audio commentaries, deleted scenes, outtakes, original theatrical trailers and art galleries. Pre-book is August 30th.

Featuring interviews with cast, crew and critics such as director John Waters, drive-in movie critic Joe Bob Briggs and Herschell Gordon Lewis himself, The Godfather of Gore traces Lewis' start in the innocent bare-naked world of "Nudie Cuties" before he shocked the world with Blood Feast, the first-ever gore film! Lewis then continued to assault audiences with such audacious shockers as She-Devils on Wheels, Blast-Off Girls, Just for the Hell of It, Two Thousand Maniacs!, The Gruesome Twosome, The Gore Gore Girls, and the incredible Wizard of Gore! Packed with tons of clips, rare outtakes, and testimony from the people who were there, Herschell Gordon Lewis: The Godfather of Gore will leave you laughing and screaming at some of the most amazing motion picture madness to ever play American movie theaters!

The Blood Trilogy Blu-ray™ presents three pioneering features from Herschell Gordon Lewis with all-new 1080p high-definition transfers and remastered 5.1 DTS HD audio, along with some bloody-good supplements.

Blood Feast (1963)

Nothing so appalling in the annals of horror has ever been seen before. When Mrs. Fremont hires crackpot Egyptian cultist Fuad Ramses to cater a party for her daughter, Suzette, she commits the culinary catastrophe of the century! Fuad immediately prepares a Blood Feast made from the grisly body parts of nubile young women. The world's first (and most notorious) "gore" film, Blood Feast is both shocking and hilarious. It's also the first of the infamous "blood trilogy" from director Herschell Gordon Lewis and producer Dave Friedman.

Two Thousand Maniacs (1964)

An entire town bathed in pulsing human blood from madmen crazed for carnage! The Two Thousand Maniacs of a small Southern town celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Civil War by forcing a handful of Northerners to serve as "guests" for a variety of blood-crazed fun and games. The festivities include a screaming man placed in a rolling barrel lined with nails, a hit-the-bull's-eye carnival game with a pretty gal and a boulder, and a blonde sexpot whose arm is hacked off and barbecued! But before they can slaughter the only smart Yank (Thomas Wood), he and the lovely Terry Adams (Connie Mason, "Playboy's Favorite Playmate") try to escape.

Color Me Blood Red (1965)

The newest trend in art is type O negative! When his girlfriend, Gigi, cuts her finger on a frame, maniacal artist Adam Sorg (Don Joseph) discovers a new shade of crimson that will make his artwork so special--human blood! Squeezing all he can out of his sliced-up fingers, Adam then stabs Gigi in the head, smears her face on a canvas and--voila!--a macabre masterpiece is created. After his bloody new painting causes a sensation on the local art scene, a crazed Adam continues creating sanguine specialties by extracting art supplies from victims outside his beach house. It all goes bad, however, when he zeros in on April (Candi Conder), whose scarlet pigment he plans to remove with an axe.

"The Sickest Movie I've Ever Seen!" - Rex Reed

ON SEPTEMBER 27th, IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT AND SOMETHING WEIRD PRESENT THEIR CASE

BASKET CASE Blu-ray™

The grindhouse classic remastered and on Blu-ray™ for the first time!

Chatsworth, CA - In 1982, a low budget horror film raised its twisted head and created a buzz with a strange mix of comedy, gore, sleaze and heartfelt pathos. On September 27th, Image Entertainment and Something Weird proudly join forces to unleash Basket Case in a brand new HD transfer supervised by writer/director Frank Henenlotter. The Blu-ray™ has an SRP of $17.97 with a pre-book of August 30th and also contains a basket full of bonus features including an all-new video introduction by the director, commentary tracks and outtakes.

Carrying a mysterious wicker basket wherever he goes, Duane Bradley checks into a flea-bag hotel in New York's Times Square. What's in the basket, you ask? Why, it's Duane's hideously misshapen Siamese twin brother, Belial, who seems to wield some sort of odd control over his more normal looking brother. Together, they're in town to hunt down and wreak havoc on the sick surgeons who separated them, but this isn't your normal revenge flick.

With memorably gruesome scenes and some seriously disturbing stop-motion animation, Basket Case is one of the most beloved, cheerfully demented cult classics of all time. Many discovered it in the days of VHS, but now Basket Case is reborn and remastered on Blu-ray™ for a new generation of twisted fans to enjoy. Open the basket if you dare!