New streaming, on-demand highlights October 9-15, 2023

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Having escaped victorious and almost unscathed from this year’s Halloween Horror Gift Guide, it’s time to drift to this week’s digital and physical home releases.

This summer hasn’t been as friendly towards blockbusters as “Barbie” would lead you to believe. Lost in the shuffle were a number of solid action films and “Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One” would at the top of my list of films that deserved a much wider audience (“The Creator” would be second, if you’re curious). You really should have made space in your life to see “Dead Reckoning Part One” in theaters but at least now you also can watch the film at home. And you really should watch this film.

Other digital releases include the fourth Expendables film, about John Lennon’s relationship with May Pang, and a handful of horror and thriller films.

This week’s Blu-ray and DVD releases are toplined by “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.” It’s arguably the best Transformers film ever made. I certainly think so. We also have the interesting and mostly effective horror film “The Boogeyman” and a plethora of fantastic 4K releases including “Megan,” “Rosemary’s Baby,” “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” “Pumpkinhead,” and “Videodrome.” “Snow White” is fairly significant in that it is the first classic Disney title to be released in 4K on Blu-ray. I’ve yet to see the transfer but I’m intrigued to see if they went back to the original elements or simply layered on a coat of new paint.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Studio Synopsis:Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team embark on their most dangerous mission yet: To track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity before it falls into the wrong hands. With the fate of the world at stake, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than his mission - not even the lives of those he cares about most.

Expend4bles

Studio Synopsis:A new generation of stars join the world's top action stars for an adrenaline-fueled adventure in "Expend4bles." Reuniting as the team of elite mercenaries, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and Sylvester Stallone are joined for the first time by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, Jacob Scipio, Levy Tran, and Andy Garcia. Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on and the skills to use them, The Expendables are the world's last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table. But new team members with new styles and tactics are going to give "new blood" a whole new meaning.

It Lives Inside

Studio Synopsis:Sam is desperate to fit in at school, rejecting her Indian culture and family to be like everyone else. When a mythological demonic spirit latches onto her former best friend, she must come to terms with her heritage in order to defeat it.

The Origin of Evil

Studio Synopsis:A woman is sucked into a world of secrets and betrayal as the battle over her estranged father's massive estate reveals him to be more than the genial patriarch she'd assumed in this twisted satire.

The Lost Weekend: A Love Story

Studio Synopsis: "The Lost Weekend: A Love Story" explores the 18-month relationship (1973-1975) that John Lennon spent with May Pang, his Chinese American assistant turned lover (on Yoko Ono's insistence). With May's help, Lennon reunited with his son Julian and had his most artistically and commercially productive period post-Beatles-with the albums "Mind Games", "Walls and Bridges" which included his only #1 Hit Single "Whatever Gets You Through the Night", "Rock and Roll" and collaborated with Elton John, David Bowie, Harry Nilsson, Mick Jagger, and Ringo to name a few. Pang chronicles it all revisiting her younger self, a naïve 22-year old experiencing her first unforgettable love.

Mercy Road

Studio Synopsis:After committing an impulsive, vicious crime while searching for his missing daughter, a frantic father (Luke Bracey) goes on the run from law enforcement and soon begins receiving chilling calls from an unknown entity claiming to know her whereabouts. As he faithfully follows the caller’s increasingly unhinged instructions, he is driven perilously close to the edge of sanity while discovering exactly how far he is willing to go to save his child.

Blu-ray & DVD Highlights

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Studio Synopsis:In this adrenaline-fueled adventure, Optimus Prime and the Autobots take on their biggest challenge yet. When a new threat capable of destroying the entire planet emerges, they must team up with a powerful faction known as the Maximals. With the fate of humanity hanging in the balance, Noah (Anthony Ramos) and Elena (Dominique Fishback) will do whatever it takes to help the Transformers as they engage in the ultimate battle to save Earth.

The Boogeyman

Studio Synopsis: In this horror-thriller from the mind of Stephen King, two sisters — along with their therapist father — are reeling from their mother’s death. When a desperate patient comes to their home, he leaves behind a terrifying entity that feeds on its victims’ suffering.

Megan 4K UHD

Studio Synopsis: From James Wan, the producer of "Annabelle," and Blumhouse, the producer of "The Black Phone," comes a fresh new face in terror. M3GAN is a marvel of artificial intelligence, a lifelike doll that's programmed to be a child's greatest companion and a parent's greatest ally. Designed by Gemma (Allison Williams, "Get Out"), a brilliant roboticist, M3GAN can listen, watch, and learn as it plays the role of friend, teacher, playmate, and protector. When Gemma becomes the unexpected caretaker of her 8-year-old niece, she decides to pair the girl with a M3GAN prototype, a decision that leads to unimaginable consequences.

Rosemary's Baby 4K UHD

Studio Synopsis:A young wife comes to believe that her offspring is not of this world. Waifish Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) and her struggling actor husband Guy (John Cassavetes) move to a New York City apartment building with an ominous reputation and odd neighbors Roman and Minnie Castavet (Sidney Blackmer, Ruth Gordon). When Rosemary becomes pregnant she becomes increasingly isolated, and the diabolical truth is revealed only after Rosemary gives birth.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 4K UHD

Studio Synopsis:The beautiful and kindhearted princess Snow White charms every creature in the kingdom except one — her jealous stepmother, the Queen. When the Magic Mirror proclaims Snow White is the fairest one of all, she must flee into the forest, where she befriends the lovable seven dwarfs — Doc, Sneezy, Grumpy, Happy, Bashful, Sleepy and Dopey. But when the Queen tricks Snow White with an enchanted apple, only the magic of true love's kiss can save her!

Pumpkinhead 4K UHD

Studio Synopsis: When a group of teenagers inadvertently kill his only son, Ed Harley (Lance Henriksen, "Aliens") seeks the powers of a backwoods witch to bring the child back to life. But instead, she invokes "the pumpkinhead" – a monstrously clawed demon which, once reborn, answers only to Ed's bloodlust. But as the creature wreaks its slow, unspeakable tortures on the teens, Ed confronts a horrifying secret about his connection to the beast – and realizes that he must find a way to stop its deadly mission before he becomes one with the creature forever.

Videodrome 4K UHD

Studio Synopsis: When Max Renn goes looking for edgy new material for his sleazy cable TV station, he stumbles across the pirate broadcast of a hyperviolent torture show called “Videodrome.” His attempts to unearth the program’s origins send him on a hallucinatory journey into a shadow world of right-wing conspiracies, sadomasochistic sex games, and bodily transformation. Starring James Woods and Deborah Harry, "Videodrome" is one of the most original and provocative works from writer-director David Cronenberg, and features groundbreaking makeup effects by Academy Award winner Rick Baker.