(All DVDs and Blu-ray discs that are mentioned in this article hit store shelves on Tuesday, December 1st. All theatrical films mentioned here will be released in theaters on Friday, December 4th.)

THIS WEEK’S NOTABLE DVD & BLU-RAY RELEASES:

Gremlins [Blu-ray] – Zack Galligan stars as Bill Peltzer, a young man who receives a pet Mogwai as his Christmas present. He fails to follow the strange rules required to take care of his mystical pet, and soon, an army of little green monstrosities is running around Bill’s hometown and creating chaos and carnage. The Blu-ray boasts a gorgeous transfer of the film, along with multiple audio options for the film, including English DTS 5.1 and 2.0 audio mixes. As for extras, this release comes with two audio commentaries, a behind-the-scenes featurette, trailers, and additional (deleted) scenes with optional commentaries!

Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels [Blu-ray] – When a streetwise guy named Eddie loses big during a poker game, he recruits three of his buddies to help him come up with half-a-million dollars to pay off his gambling debt to a mobster. The Blu-ray offers a noticeable upgrade in video quality from the previously released DVDs and features a DTS 5.1 audio mix. Sadly this is a pretty bare bones release for this film; all we get are two very short (but fun) featurettes. Unless you’re a fan, you may just want to wait for this to come down in price, or wait for a better edition to pop up later on down the road.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XIV (Limited Edition Giftset) [DVD] – Shout Factory! delivers the goods once again with four more episodes of this classic cult TV series. This volume contains four quality episodes, including: The Corpse Vanishes, Warrior of the Lost World, Santa Claus, and Night of the Blood Beast. Each disc (aside from The Corpse Vanishes) is packed with extras, and the set includes lobby cards and a limited edition Tom Servo action figure! Get this before it goes out of print gang!

Silent Night, Deadly Night III, IV, & V [DVD Boxed Set] – Finally, the final three sequels for the two previous (and hilariously depraved) entries in this odd film series are available in one set! Not sure what extras (if any) are on the discs, but Hell, I for one am just happy that I can finally pick up the rest of this franchise!

Terminator: Salvation [DVD and Director's Cut Blu-ray] – While many thought this would be the futuristic tour-de-force that we briefly witnessed in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, it turned out to be a somewhat dull tale of man’s continued struggles against machines in the post-apocalyptic uprising of Skynet. Christian Bale is wasted as John Connor, especially since the bulk of the story revolves around a young Kyle Reese and the prototype for the deadly T-800 series Terminator as seen in the original film. I couldn’t find any disc specs for the DVD or Blu-ray releases, but apparently the Director’s Cut (which runs three-minutes longer that the theatrical version) is only available on Blu-ray at the moment.

The Wizard of Oz: 3-Disc Emerald Edition [Blu-ray] – Do I even have to deliver a synopsis of this classic film? I think not! And I dare not even get into the HUGE number of extras that are contained on the Blu-ray of this beautifully restored classic film! Click here to read a full review of this 3-disc set!

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THIS WEEK’S CULT BLU-RAY RELEASES:
Ben 10: Alien Swarm
Death Warrior
* Gremlins
* Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (3-disc set)
* Terminator: Salvation (Director’s Cut)
* Wizard of Oz: 3-Disc Emerald Edition

THIS WEEK’S CULT DVD RELEASES:
Deader Country
Death Warrior
The Evil Dead (re-release)
Gordon Liu: 4 Film Collection
Gunslinger Girl Il Treatino: OVA
Hair Extentions
Knife of Ice
Le Chevalier d’Eon: The Complete Series
Legend of the Dragon
Like a Moth to A Flame
Little Red Devil
Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Season 1, Part 3 (Regular and Special Editions)
* Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XVI (Limited Edition)
My-Zhine: My-Otome Complete Collection
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2-disc Monkey Mischief Pack)
Poker Run
Rental Magica, Part 1
* Silent Night, Deadly Night III, IV, & V (Boxed Set)
Sins of the Father
Terminator: Salvation (Widescreen and Fullscreen editions)
Toward the Terra: Complete Collection

THIS WEEK’S NEW THEATRICAL RELEASES:
Armored – How could such an all-star cast get stuck in a film that looks so awful?! Columbus Short plays a security guard with a conscious that rebels against his coworkers when they shoot a cop during an armored car heist. I could be totally wrong; this could end up being a great film, but the trailer for Armored just didn’t click with me. If anything, this seems like a film that would have been perfect for the Summer Blockbuster season. I think I’ll skip this and try to find a theater that is playing Boondock Saints 2 or The Road instead.

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Transylmania – I am so f*cking sick of parodies, and what is with Hollywood putting out films that would be perfect for the Halloween season in mid-summer or early winter release slots?! A group of idiotic teens go to a Romanian college, party hard, and battle vampires. Admittedly, I chuckled a few times during the trailer, but I think I’ll give this one a rental after it makes a quick departure from theaters.

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As you can see, it isn’t a very good week for genre releases, and next week just plain sucks. There’s only a handful of quality titles hitting store shelves (Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon and Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer on Blu-ray!) and the theaters will be seriously lacking any worthwhile cinematic endeavors. But hang in there guys and gals because December 15th is host to an impressive release slate that includes District 9, Inglourious Basterds, and The Hangover! (Ok, I know The Hangover doesn’t really qualify here, but damn it, that was a funny movie!) So hang in there b-movie fans and be safe; Christmas shopping season is one of the deadliest times of the year! See ya’ll next week! – Vault Master