10 Of The Best Upcoming 4K And Blu-Ray Horror Releases

The good folks at Error 4444 continue to do the lord's work by giving underseen Asian horror gems a new lease of life with stacked releases. Up on the docket this month is all three films in the Art of the Devil series, some of the most disturbing and gory movies to come from Thailand. The limited edition region free release comes with brand new HD restorations of each movie, new essays, both video and written, new interviews with director Puttipong Saisrikaew, newly commissioned art cards and – best of all for all you tchotchke collectors – STICKERS!

Pre-order Art of the Devil I – III here for a mid December release.

Long before The Hunger Games or Fortnite, legendary Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku defined the battle royale genre as we know it with his dystopian thriller, Battle Royale. Starring Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Chiaki Kuriyama, Tarō Yamamoto and Takeshi “Beat” Kitano, Battle Royale follows a group of junior high students stranded on an isolated island and forced to fight to the death per the orders of the government. To celebrate 25 years of the massively influential action-thriller, Lionsgate Home Entertainment is releasing a brand new 4K UHD Blu-ray Steelbook which features both the Theatrical Cut and the Director’s Cut, for even more ultraviolence. Extra special features include a behind-the-scenes featurette, documentary, audition footage and much more.

Pre-order Battle Royale for a December 9 release here.

Just in time for the deep winter chill, Scott Derrickson's snowy sequel Black Phone 2 is skating onto 4K UHD with a Collector's Edition, after passing a major milestone at the box office. Returning for the follow-up to 2021's The Black Phone are stars Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw, with Ethan Hawke also back as the notorious child-killer known as the Grabber, who returns from the dead to terrorize the kids once more. Extras on the new release include a commentary with Derrickson, deleted scenes, featurettes and more.

Pre-order Black Phone 2 for a December 23 release here.

Think you know The Texas Chain Saw Massacre? Think again. Alexandre O. Philippe's must-see documentary, Chain Reactions, recruits five of the biggest names in horror – Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Stephen King, and Karyn Kusama – to dive deep into Tobe Hooper's 1947 seminal horror classic, alongside contemporary footage and never-before-seen outtakes. Dark Sky's Blu-ray release of Chain Reactions not only comes stacked with special features, it also includes eight, count 'em, eight versions of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, from a 1987 bootleg Czech VHS rip to the 35mm “Grindhouse” print. It's simply a must.

Pre-order Chain Reactions here for a December 2 release.

A certified day-ruiner, Ben Wheatley‘s crime-thriller-meets-psychological-horror Kill List is a panic attack in movie form (complimentary), and this new release from Severin more than deserves space on your shelf. Starring Neil Maskell and Michael Smiley, Kill List follows two former soldiers who take on an assassin gig from a mysterious client, and to say anymore would do the film a disservice. Severin's new release of Kill List comes with over six hours of special features, including new and archival commentaries, interviews, making-of and more.

Order your copy of Kill List here.

Speaking of day-ruiners, while you're recovering from Kill List why not keep up the good mood with Umbrella's new release of Joel Anderson's Lake Mungo? Released in 2008, the harrowing found-footage mockumentary follows a family grieving the death of their daughter/sister Alice, only to discover she might not be as gone as they think. Umbrella's packed new release comes with a metric ton of special features including a 3-hour retrospective featuring the cast & crew of Lake Mungo, including special interviews with Justin Kurzel, Mike Flanagan, Eduardo Sánchez, David Dastmalchian and more.

Pre-order Lake Mungo here for a December 3 release.

Even if you're not an anime fan, chances are you've seen and loved Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue. And if you haven't, well here's the perfect opportunity. The 1997 psychological horror-thriller follows a young J-pop idol, Mima, who becomes a victim of stalking as she tries to shed her innocent image for more serious acting roles. The new collector's edition comes with a full-length lecture from the late, great Kon lecture, offering up a comprehensive study and breakdown of the film from the director himself, plus a 132-page book of artwork, writing and more.

If you're in the UK, you can pre-order Perfect Blue here for a December 8 release, while US fans will need to wait until December 23 for theirs to arrive.

Loyal Second Sight customers know that this release has been a long, long time coming, but, boy, was it worth the wait. The absolutely stacked release of Andrzej Żuławski's 1981 cult classic Possession, which stars Sam Neill and a transcendent Isabella Adjani as a married couple who are, as the kids say, going through it, is a new producer-approved 4K restoration presented in HDR with Dolby Vision, and includes a typical Second Sight embarrassment of riches in terms of new writing, commentaries, video essays, deleted scenes and so much more. Put this one on your Christmas list ASAP because we can't imagine it'll be long before it sells out.

Pre-order Possession here for a December 15 release.

‘Tis the season for Christmas horror, and when you've had your annual rewatch of all the classics, make sure to grab a copy of the underseen and underrated 2021 festive frightener The Advent Calendar. From director Patrick Ridremont, the monkey's paw-style tale follows paraplegic Eva, who is gifted a strange advent calendar. But instead of the traditional sweets, every day reveals something different; sometimes pleasant but often terrifying, and increasingly bloody. Released as part of Vinegar Syndrome's partner label with Shudder, the new release comes with a new commentary, new writing and a new video introduction from Ridremont himself.

Order your copy of The Advent Calendar right here.

Arrow's dedication to bringing lesser-seen horror gems to the forefront of physical media shelves never ceases, and their latest release of The House with the Laughing Windows is just another example. From director Pupi Avati, the 1976 giallo thriller follows a young art restorer who is hired to repair a fresco painted by a long-dead murderer. Arrow's new release comes with a feature-length documentary, new commentaries, new writing, new video essays and much more.

Pre-order The House with the Laughing Windows here for a December 2 release.