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Mill Creek Entertainment; Amazon

Here's a little fact about me: I'm a big of fan of Italian spaghetti westerns, especially the Man with No Name Trilogy starting Clint Eastwood, as well as The Call Me Trinity and Trinity Is Still My Name starring Terence Hill and Bud Spencer.

Over the past month, I've been watching the Outlaws & Con Men: 4 Movie Collection ($9.98; 5 hours 46 minutes), which was recently released on DVD + Digital by Mill Creek Entertainment. There are no special features or bonus extras on the DVD. The digital code can only be redeemed and streamed on the Mill Creek Entertainment's website.

The movies on the one-disc set include:

• Sting of the West (1974; PG; 92 minutes) - Directed by Enzo G. Castellari, the plot involves a young man named Tedeum (played by Giancarlo Prete) trying to sell the ownership of mine that he just inherited. A lot of things occur, and he eventually teams up with con man Buck Santini (played by Jack Palance) and two con ladies, Betty and Wendy (played by Mabel Karin and Francesca Romana Coluzzi), as they try to outrun the villainous Mr. Grant (played by Eduardo Fajardo). The film also goes by the title Tedeum.

• Bad Man's River (1971; PG; 87 minutes) - Directed by Eugenio Martín, the film centers around Roy (played by Lee Van Cleef), a leader of a band of outlaws who get suckered into destroying an arsenal owned by the Mexican Army; only to be setup by his ex-wife (played by Gina Lollobrigida). Roy and his pals must plan an elaborate scheme to outsmart the Mexican Army and steal a million dollars. The film also goes by the title El hombre de Río Malo.

• Django's Cut Price Corpses (1971; Not Rated; 84 minutes) - Directed by Luigi Batzella, the film stars Jeff Cameron as the bounty hunter Django, who heads into Mexico to rescue his fiance who has been kidnapped the Cortez brothers. The film also goes by the title A Pistol for Django.

• Django Shoots First (1966; Not Rated; 82 minutes) - Directed by Alberto De Martino, the film centers around Django (a.k.a. Ringo, played by Glen Saxon), a bounty hunter who kills the bounty hunter who'd killed his father. Confused yet? Instead of burying his father, Django collects the bounty on his father's deceased body. After learning his father was framed by a former business partner, Django goes on a quest to avenge his father's death and clam his rightful inheritance. The film also goes the title He Who Shoots First!.

Mill Creek Entertainment; Amazon

At one point in my life, I would never take the time out to watch westerns from the 1940s and 1950s. Yes, that means I'm not a John Wayne fan; I'm more of a Clint Eastwood fan, which would explain why I own every season of Rawhide on DVD. Besides from John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, one of the biggest (or more recognizable) star of the western genre was Roy Rogers. Yep, the King of Cowboys, who appeared in over 100 movies and starred in his own television series from 1951 to 1957.

Why am I talking about Roy Rogers?

Well, over the last few nights I have been watching The Roy Rogers: Happy Trails Collection DVD Set ($19.98; Not Rated; 21 hrs 2 mins) that was recently released by Mill Creek Entertainment. It's basically a re-release of the Timeless Media DVD set that was released in 2010, but with a new artwork on the DVD jacket.

This release features 20 films from the "Happy Trails Theater" which aired on TNN in the late 1980s and was hosted by Roy Rogers and his wife Dale Cooper. There would be a short segment at the beginning (sometimes with a special guest), followed by a feature film, and then there would be a wrap up segment at the very ending. A few of the western guest stars included Gene Autry, Iron Eyes Cody, Pat Brady, Ruth Terry, Roy "Dusty" Rogers Jr., and Pat Butram. The original running time for the films were shorten to fit within the 90-minute television spot with commercials! All the of the movies on the four-disc set are the edited versions, except for Cowboy and the Senorita, which doesn't have the "Happy Trails Theater" segments.

The film titles are:

• Sons of the Pioneers (1942; 62 minutes)
• Trigger, Jr. (1950; 64 minutes)
• Pals Of The Golden West (1951; 63 minutes)
• Young Bill Hickok (1940; 62 minutes)
• Don't Fence Me In (1945; 61 minutes)
• Down Dakota Way (1949; 62 minutes)
• The Golden Stallion (1949; 63 minutes)
• Man From Oklahoma (1945; 62 minutes)
• Rainbow Over Texas (1946; 62 minutes)
• Trail of Robin Hood (1950; 64 minutes)
• Sunset in El Dorado (1945; 63 minutes)
• North of the Great Divide (1950; 64 minutes)
• Bells of Coronado (1950; 63 minutes)
• South of Caliente (1951; 63 minutes) 
• In Old Amarillo (1951; 64 minutes)
• Along The Navajo Trail (1945; 61 minutes)
• Twilight in the Sierras (1950; 64 minutes)
• Susanna Pass (1949; 63 minutes)
• Spoilers of The Plains (1951; 62 minutes)
• Cowboy and the Senorita (1944; 77 minutes)

Bonus Features include:

• Roy Rogers Biography
• "Sidekicks" starring Gabby Hayes, Pat Brady, Pinkie Lee & more!
• Tour of the Roy Rogers Museum hosted by Roy "Dusty" Rogers Jr. 

Final Thoughts

AMAZON

Does anyone remember hearing about a the movie Replicas being released to theatres back in January? If your answer is no, don't worry you're not the only who's never heard of it either!

Replicas landed on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital earlier this month from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. 

Directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff and written for the screen by Chad St. John based on the story by Stephen Hamel, the film stars Keanu Reeves as William Foster, a neuroscientist who moved his family to Puerto Rico when he took a job working for the Bionyne Corporation. Along with cloning scientist Ed Whittle (played by Thomas Middleditch), William is attempting to transfer the mind of dead soldiers into robots. Despite many attempts, their experiments have failed.

While on a family trip, William, his wife Mona (played by Alice Eve) and their children Sophie, Matt, and Zoe are involved in a car crash. William is the only the survivor. Instead of calling the authorities, he ends up calling Ed to help him recover their bodies and take them back home, where he plans on cloning their bodies with technology that Ed sort of borrowed from the Bionyne Corporation. Sadly, there were only 3 cloning tank available, so William must make a horrible decision not to clone one of his children.

The cloning process only takes 17 days per clone, and during that time William brainstorms on how to successfully copy the human mind's neural pathways to an artificial mind. Luckily for him, he succeeds just in the nick of time. However, bringing his family back from the dead will have deadly consequences.

Blu-ray Special Features include:

• Audio Commentary with Director Jeffery Nachmanoff and Executive Producer James Dodson
• Imprint Collection: The Making of Replicas
• Deleted Scenes

Final Thoughts

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @  Caffeinated Book Reviewer!

In the Mail

Rated R; $19.98; Amazon

There are not very many horror movies that can actually give me the hibbie jibbies. Sure, last year's A Quite Place and the Halloween reboot sequel were scary fun, but I was never once on the edge of my seat. However, that wasn't the case with the supernatural psychology The Hole in the Ground, which will land on DVD from Lionsgate Home Entertainment on April 30th! My expectations are always pretty low for horror films that I've never heard of before, so I was pleasantly surprised to learn the movie is truly frightening!

Directed and co-written by Lee Cronin, the 90-minute movie centers around Sarah O'Neill (played brilliantly by Seána Kerslake), a young woman who flees from her abusive husband to the Irish countryside along with her young son Chris (played by James Quinn Markey). Upon arriving at their new home, Chris disappears during the night and later reappears perfectly fine. Or is he?


After an odd encounter with their neighbors,Des and Noreen Brady (played by James Cosmo and Kati Outinen), Sarah starts to wonder if there's something not quire with her son, who isn't quite acting like himself. She fears something else from the beyond has replaced Chris. Scared for her life, Sarah is determined to learn the truth, which is somehow connected to the huge sinkhole located in the forest near their home.

Final Thoughts