Blu-ray Today: Gamera, Hercules, Devil Baby and Naked Nuns

Gamera: Ultimate Collection Vol 1 and 2 – Godzilla may be all the rage right now – so much so that even the animated series based on the Roland Emmerich version (there were 40 episodes??? Really???) is getting a DVD release – but Mystery Science Theater 3000‘s most favoritest kaiju will not be ignored.

You might say Gamera is what Michael Bay wished the Ninja Turtles were – a giant tortoise who smashes cities, and jet propels his shell into the air when needed. Like his precursor, Gamera began as a metaphor for nuclear fears, continued as a monster who fights other monsters, and has been rebooted a couple of times – the eight movies being released in these disc sets represent the original Daiei Studios films (in their original Japanese cuts) and end with the big guy’s death, but don’t worry – he’s returned quite a few times since.

The Legend of Hercules 3D – Dear, dear Renny Harlin, what the hell happened to you? Was Cutthroat Island really that soul-shattering? Is it that you didn’t think to cast Johnny Depp in your pirate movie? Whatever the case, rushing out a cheapie Hercules movie with Kellan Lutz to beat Dwayne Johnson and Brett Ratner to the multiplex feels like a desperation move. Harlin’s take, from what I hear, hews closer to a low-budget 300 rip-off than actual Greek mythology, but my guess is most people renting this title will be doing so for the abs. And abs it has.

Devil’s Due – Not unlike Renny Harlin’s Hercules flick, this is the first major found-footage demonic pregnancy movie of the year, but based on the overwhlemingly negative reaction it received, you’d be better off waiting for Delivery: The Beast Within, in which a pregnancy going steadily wrong is documented on a reality show. Devil’s Due mostly got attention for a viral video prank involving a prop devil baby…that never appears in the film itself.

Betty Boop: The Essential Collection Volume 3 – Twelve animated shorts make their disc debut, featuring the cartoon character your grandparents were most likely to masturbate to. What…am I wrong? Did yours prefer Oswald? No judgments here.

Dead Shadows – Paris is overrun by erratic, violent nutjobs. Also, there’s a movie called Dead Shadows. It’s about a comet making everyone go crazy, or something like that.

Jess Franco’s The Demons – The Spanish exploitation filmmaker’s obsessions with witchcraft, revenge and the torture of naked nuns are once again on full display. Expect Quentin Tarantino to go on and on about this stuff at some point, if anybody ever asks him.

That’s all I got today; anything you’d like to add?