A few stray comedies (You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, Chaplin: 15th Anniversary Edition, Abbott & Costello: Complete Universal Pictures Collection, and Animal House: 30th Anniversary Edition) will show up on store shelves this month, along with some scary stop-action classics (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad: 50th Anniversary Edition and Ray Harryhausen Gift Set with 20 Million Miles to Earth, Earth vs. The Flying Saucers, It Came From Beneath the Sea). However, October 2008 undoubtedly belongs to the dark romances of director Alfred Hitchcock.
Known as the master of suspense, Hitchcock also had a penchant for choosing cool, beautiful blond actresses for roles in his films, including a romance (or failed romance) within the story, selecting psychological thrillers and tales of suspense, and inserting himself into small cameo appearances in most of his movies. In addition to the often horrific tales of greed and jealously, the director always managed to add ironic and humorous touches to his work – even the darkest stories, such as Psycho, in which a taxidermy-loving motel owner provides shelter for a woman on the run.
Individual Hitchcock Classics Released on DVD in October
Psycho: Special Edition
- In this 1960 horror film, a woman steals money from work in order to start a new life, but ends up at the Bates Motel where things go terribly wrong.
- Starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Martin Balsam
- Director: Alfred Hitchcock
- Rating: R
- Release Date: October 7
- Additional Information: Special 2-Disc Universal Legacy Series includes bonus features including a 90-minute documentary on the making of the film.
Rear Window: Special Edition
- In this suspense drama from 1954, a man confined to a wheelchair witnesses a murder from his apartment window.
- Starring James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Raymond Burr
- Director: Alfred Hitchcock
- Rating: PG
- Release Date: October 7
- Additional Information: Special 2-Disc Universal Legacy Series contains extra bonus features.
Vertigo: Special Edition
- This romantic thriller from 1958 concerns a lonely police detective who is deathly afraid of heights.
- Starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, Tom Helmore
- Director: Alfred Hitchcock
- Rating: PG
- Release Date: October 7
- Additional Information: Special 2-Disc Universal Legacy Series contains extra bonus features.
Alfred Hitchcock Collection Released on DVD in October
Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection
- This collection includes some of Hitchcock’s earliest films: Lifeboat, Spellbound, Notorious, The Paradine Case, Sabotage, Young and Innocent, Rebecca, and The Lodger.
- Starring some of the top actors from the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, such as Cary Grant, Gregory Peck, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Alida Valli, and Sylvia Sidney.
- Director: Alfred Hitchcock
- Rating: Not Rated
- Release Date: October 14
- Additional Information: Special 8-Disc box set includes lots of extras for a total of 594 minutes of entertainment.
For more information about the films of Alfred Hitchcock, visit Internet Movie Database.
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