If There Be Thorns
Director: Nancy Savoca
Starring: Heather Graham, Jason Lewis, Rachel Carpani
Studio: LionsGate
Release Date: June 23, 2015
Retail: $14.98
Running Time: 98 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Now available to own on DVD is the third installment of the made-for-LIFETIME film saga, titled If There Be Thorns. There are no special features or extras on the single disc, but there is a Digital Ultraviolet download code.

Based on the third novel in the Dollanganger Saga by the late Gothic author V.C. Andrews, If There Be Thorns takes place six years after then end of Petals on the Wind, where Chris (played by Jason Lewis) and Cathy (played by Rachael Carpani) Dollanganger are living as man and wife in California along with their sons Jory (played by Jedidiah Goodacre) and Bart (played by Mason Cook). It seems they have finally been able to put their dark past behind them, well, that is until a mysterious woman dressed in black purchases the mansion next door to them.

Bart's thinks he's the outcast of the family. His older brother, Jory, is great at everything and gets praised from their parents all the time. Though Bart has been told to stay away from the mansion next door, his curiosity gets the better of him and he checkouts the new owner a  is a rich widow (played by Heather Graham), whom is living with her butler - John Amos!

Petals on the Wind
Director: Karen Moncrieff
Starring: Heather Graham, Rose McIver, Wyatt Nash, Baley Buntain, Nick Searcy Dlyan Bruce, Will Kemp, Whitney Hoy, Ellia English and Ellen Burstyn
Studio: LionsGate Home Entertainment
Release Date: September 16, 2014
Retail: $14.98
ASIN: B00KFNF17E
Running Time: 90 minutes
Rating: NOT Rated
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Arriving on DVD on September 16th is the Petals on the Wind based on the classic novel by V.C. Andrews. The film is directed by Karen Moncrieff and stars Heather Graham, Rose McIver, Wyatt Nash, Baley Buntain, Nick Searcy Dlyan Bruce, Will Kemp , Whitney Hoy, Ellia English and Ellen Burstyn. The DVD comes with a Digital Ultraviolet code. There are no extras or special features.

After the success of the made-for-television adaption of Flowers in the Attic back in January, it was no-brainier why Lifetime quickly gave the greenlight for the sequel Petals on the Wind, which made its debut on Lifetime back in May.

Unlike the book of the same name that picks up directly where Flowers in the Attic ended, the film adaption jumps ten years with new actors (Rose Mclver, Wyatt Nash and Bailey Buntain) taking over the roles of Cathy, Christopher and Carrie Dollanganger. Shoving a 450 page book into a 90-minute movie means there are many characters and scenes that had to be cut. Dr. Paul Sheffield, who adopts the children and later has a romantic relationship with Cathy, never appears, as the film opens up with his funeral. Cathy's ballet roommates, Yolanda Lange and April Summers, never appears, as well as Dr. Paul's sister,
Amanda Sheffield (Biddens).

Despite some changes, the main plot is still intact in the film with Cathy wanting revenge for what her mother did to her and her siblings. A few scenes with Carrie shows how she was tormented by her classmates and how her mother ignored her, which all leads to her death (it differs from the book). Then there is a side-story with Christopher dating Whitney Hoy, which isn't in the book.

Witches Of East End: The Complete First Season
Starring: Julia Ormond, Mädchen Amick, Rachel Boston, Jenna Dewan-Tatum, Daniel Di Tomasso, Eric Winter
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date: June 24, 2014
Retail: $29.98
ASIN: B00JF5GAZA
Running Time: 431 minutes
Rating: TV-14

Review:

Arriving on DVD yesterday is the supernatural Lifetime series, Witches Of East End: The First Complete Season, based on the popular book franchise by Melissa de la Cruz. Special Features include Falling Under Their Spell, deleted scenes, gag reel and cat bloopers.

The series centers around Joanna Beauchamp (played by Julia Ormond), a single mother raising her two twenty-something daughters, Freya Beauchamp (played by Jenna Dewan Tatum) and Ingrid Beauchamp (played by Rachel Boston). Ingrid works at a library, while Freya works as a bartender at The Bent Elbow and is engaged to the handsome and wealthy Dash Gardiner (played by Eric Winter). After the surprise arrival of Joannas long-estranged sister, Wendy Beauchamp (played by Mädchen Amick), Freya and Ingrid learn a startling family secret - they are actually witches!

Joanna and Wendy were both banished by their father from the magical world of Asgard. A curse was put on Joanna, where she must watch her daughters die at a young age. After their deaths, she becomes magically pregnant again with Ingrid and later with Freya. She watches them grow up with their witchcraft heritage, which eventually leads to their deaths, over and over again. Finally, Joanna came to the decision not to tell her daughters about their witchcraft abilities, but there is an evil entity that is out for blood and she has no choice but to let the girls embrace their family's magical legacy.

The ten episodes on the 3-disc set are: