Clockwise from top left: Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One (Paramount), Prey (Hulu), Meg 2: The Trench (Warner Bros.), Talk To Me (A24)Image: The A.V. Club
Physical media may be devalued by some in our streaming-dominated world, but you’d be surprised how many great titles are only available on disc. Also, some titles can be so much more rewarding on DVD, Blu-ray, or 4K UHD, especially when they’re loaded with special packaging and bonus features. With that in mind, here’s a look at all the best films that you can spin starting in October 2023, including the physical debuts of recent theatrical movies such as Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One, Meg 2: The Trench, Talk To Me, and Gran Turismo. Also on tap just in time for Halloween are the 4K UHD debuts of Pumpkinhead, Rosemary’s Baby, Videodrome, and The Others.
Prey (2022)
Available October 3 is a Predator prequel set in 1719 when a Comanche tribe has a close encounter of the aggressive kind after a Predator shows up in the Northern Great Plains. The Hulu movie earned praise for its cinematography, action sequences, and casting of Indigenous actors. Now those without Hulu can watch the Dan Trachtenberg-directed movie on Blu-ray and . Extras include “Making Of Prey,” a panel discussion with cast and crew, an alternate opening scene, two deleted scenes, and a commentary track. A limited edition SteelBook also drops on the same date.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Available October 10Roman Polanski’s horror classic starring Mia Farrow finally gets a release, just before Halloween. The Paramount movie about a young couple trying to have a baby who moves into a building with devilish neighbors celebrates its 55th anniversary this year. The 4K UHD debut includes a digital copy and a Blu-ray, the latter of which is expected to feature the same extras as the previous Paramount Blu-ray edition, including “Rosemary’s Baby: A Retrospective,” “Mia and Roman,” the theatrical trailer, and a 50th-anniversary red-band trailer.
Available October 10David Cronenberg’s sci-fi/body-horror classic gets a debut for its 40th anniversary. The freaky film about a dangerous underground-TV broadcast stars James Woods and Blondie singer Deborah Harry. The new Criterion Collection release features a 4K restoration of the unrated version, approved by Cronenberg. Bonus features include two audio commentaries, Cronenberg’s 2000 short film Camera, a short makeup and special effects documentary, the complete footage of the bootleg videos featured in the movie, a still gallery with rare production photos, and a roundtable discussion from 1982 with Cronenberg, John Carpenter, John Landis, and Mick Garris.
Pumpkinhead (1988)
Available October 10In , country-store owner Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen) asks a local witch to conjure up a demon named Pumpkinhead to exact revenge on a group of partying teens responsible for the death of his young son. The cult classic is the directorial debut of special effects wizard Stan Winston, who passed away in 2008. Fans who first saw the movie on VHS know how grainy and dark previous home video releases have been, making it difficult to fully appreciate Winston’s fantastical creature effects. Now Shout Factory presents a collector’s edition featuring a new 4K scan of the original camera negative. An included Blu-ray copy has all of the legacy extras, including interviews with the cast and crew, a six-part documentary titled “Pumpkinhead Unearthed” on the making of the movie, “Remembering The Monster Kid: A Tribute to Stan Winston,” a look at the creation of the Pumpkinhead action figure, and more.
Available October 10The 1990s-set is a direct sequel to 2018’s Bumblebee and the seventh live-action Transformers movie. In Rise Of The Beasts, Optimus Prime and the other Autobots team up with the Maximals to protect the Earth from total annihilation. Available on both and Blu-ray, Rise Of The Beasts boasts a megaton of extras, including several comprehensive making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes, “Life In The ’90s,” extended and deleted scenes, and more.
Talk To Me (2023)
Available October 17It’s appropriate that one of the scariest original horror movies in years arrives on and Blu-ray just before Halloween. is about a group of friends who use an embalmed hand to conjure up spirits at parties until one of them goes beyond the limit and unleashes a deadly supernatural force. The effective Australian horror film directed by Danny and Michael Philippou stars Sophie Wilde, Miranda Otto, and Zoe Terakes. Extras include an audio commentary, “In The Grip Of Terror” featurette, deleted scenes, and a trailer. An Amazon exclusive includes a bonus disc featuring a Q&A with the twin Philippou brothers.
The Others (2001)
Available October 24Fans of classic ghost stories will want StudioCanal’s upgrade of , starring Nicole Kidman as a woman who lives with her two photosensitive children on her haunted family estate in the Channel Islands during World War II. The new release features a 4K restoration of the Alejandro Amenábar-directed movie from the original 35 mm negative (details included in the trailer above). New bonus features include “Looking Back At The Others” and “The Music Of The Others.” Legacy extras include “A Look Inside The Others,” a visual effects featurette, “Xeroderma Pigmentosum: What Is It?,” a featurette on Amenábar, and a stills gallery.
Meg 2: The Trench (2023)
Available October 24Rescue diver Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) discovers more not-so-extinct prehistoric sharks while exploring the Mariana Trench in . The sci-fi action movie directed by Ben Wheatley and starring Wu Jing, Page Kennedy, and Cliff Curtis comes to home video on both and Blu-ray. Unfortunately, even though the movie got a 3D theatrical release and recent movies such as Avatar: The Way Of Water are available on Blu-ray 3D, it looks as if Meg 2 won’t get a domestic Blu-ray 3D release at this time. The two bonus features are “The Making Of Meg 2: The Trench” and “Up From The Depths: Even More Beasts.”
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
Available October 31A legit Halloween treat this year is the release of on and Blu-ray. Tom Cruise is sitting at home wondering why many moviegoers skipped seeing Ethan Hunt’s seventh installment of the spy-action franchise in theaters after they showed up in droves for last year’s Top Gun: Maverick. Perhaps they were waiting for the extensive bonus content on disc, including audio commentary by director Christopher McQuarrie and editor Eddie Hamilton; three filming-location featurettes on Rome, Venice, and Abu Dhabi; an extended look at the freefall sequence of Cruise driving a motorcycle off a cliff; a “Speed Flying” featurette; a featurette on the climactic train sequence; and deleted-scenes montage. Dead Reckoning Part One is also available in a limited edition SteelBook.
Gran Turismo (2023)
Available October 31 is a biographical sports drama directed by Neill Blomkamp and based on the PlayStation racing game of the same name. Archie Madekwe plays Jann Mardenborough, a real-life Gran Turismo fan who dreams of becoming a professional race driver. The movie races home on both and Blu-ray after a quick theatrical run. No information about bonus features is available at press time, but both Best Buy and Walmart will offer two different SteelBook editions. Check out the details for both on Halloween to make sure you get the edition that revs your engines.