Blu-ray & DVD: The Digital Dread Report for July14th!

Now this is a week that was designed to strain our wallets, as there are no less than 6 Must Own titles seeing release. Alright, maybe it's only 4, but the other two are definitely of note.

Those Scream Factory 2-Packs are definitely calling our names, but it's Ex Machina and It Follows that stand out as the week's biggest and brightest. *We probably don't "need" to own The Howling II or X-Men: The Double Dip, but hey, you only live once, right?

*Click the pics to order yourself a copy of whichever movies stir your souls.

CELLAR DWELLER
1987 / Color / Not Rated / New HD Transfer!
The promising career of a horror comic book artist ends in a fiery death when he confronts the bloody carnage of his own imagination in his studio. Years later, an ardent devotee of the artist's work becomes a resident in his house, now an art academy, unaware that her imagination has revived the grotesque murderer of the past...and that she may be the next victim.

CATACOMBS
1988 / Color / Rated R / New HD Transfer!
For over 400 years, the curse of the Abbey at San Pietro was kept a secret. Buried deep beneath the monastery lies the Beast of the Apocalypse. The power of evil is unleashed when an American priest and a beautiful young schoolteacher uncover the unholy terror of a diabolical spell cast centuries ago. Now, it will take the ultimate sacrifice to stop the curse that will not be denied.

Even when they involved cheesy B-Movies from the 80's, there's just something about these 2-Packs from Scream Factory that we just can't resist. Especially when they cost under $20.

THE OUTING (AKA The Lamp)
1987 / New HD Transfer!
An ancient genie is released from a lamp when thieves ransack an old woman's house. They are killed and the lamp is sent to a museum to be studied. The curator's daughter is soon possessed by the genie and invites her friends to spend the night at the museum, along with some uninvited guests. 

THE GODSEND
1980 / New HD Transfer!
When a strange woman has her baby at the Marlowe's house, then disappears, Kate Marlowe is forced to keep the baby, Bonnie. She loves the child, but when her own children are systematically killed, suspicion turns to Bonnie.

Same thing as above.

After winning a competition to spend a week at the mountain estate of his company's brilliant CEO (Isaac), programmer Caleb (Gleeson) arrives to discover he has been chosen to take part in a study of artificial intelligence. Sworn to secrecy and cut off from the outside world, Caleb meets his subject, a beguiling and seductive android (Vikander)-and is plunged into an A.I. experiment beyond his wildest dreams in this epic thriller charged with heart-stopping suspense.

Ex Machina is about as sleek and chilling of a Sci-Fi Thriller that we've seen in a long time. Excellent performances from Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, and Alicia Vikander aside, this movie is as  beautiful as it it haunting, and it should look pristine on Blu-ray.

• "Through the Looking Glass: Creating Ex Machina" 5-Part Featurette.
• SXSW Q&A with Cast and Crew.
• Eight Behind-the-Scenes Vignettes.

Read our review of Ex Machina HERE.

After newscaster Karen White's shocking on-screen transformation and violent death (in the original THE HOWLING), her brother Ben (Reb Brown, Yor, the Hunter of the Future) is approached by Stefan Crosscoe (Lee), a mysterious man who claims that Karen has, in fact, become a werewolf. But this is the least of their worries... to save mankind, Stefan and Ben must travel to Transylvania to battle and destroy Stirba (Danning), the immortal queen of all werewolves, before she is restored to her full powers!

Nowhere near as good as Joe Dante's classic, The Howling, Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (yes, that is it's real title) is a trashy, cheesy, ridiculous movie that does not deserve to call itself a sequel to such a superior movie. Christopher Lee has even called the movie his own "personal embarrassment" if that gives you any indication of its quality... and yet, there's something deliciously fun about this movie that makes us remember it fondly. Why, we have no clue.

If you're a fan of the average so-bad-it's-good type of bad movie, then you'll probably get a kick out of this one. Also, if you like Sybil Danning's boobs, then bonus.

• Audio Commentary with Director Philippe Mora.
• Audio Commentary with Composer Steve Parsons and Editor Charles Bornstein.
• Leading Man – An Interview with Actor Reb Brown.
• Queen of the Werewolves – An Interview with Actress Sybil Danning.
• A Monkey Phase – Interviews with Special Make-Up Effects Artists Steve Johnson and Scott Wheeler.
• Behind the Scenes Footage.
• Alternate Opening and Alternate Ending.
• Theatrical Trailer.
• Still Gallery.

For 19-year-old Jay, fall should be about school, boys and weekends out at the lake. But after a seemingly innocent sexual encounter, she finds herself plagued by strange visions and the inescapable sense that someone, or something, is following her. Jay and her teenage friends must now find a way to escape the horrors that seem to be only a few steps behind

If you've been following the Horror Scene at all this year, then there's nothing that we can say about this movie that you don't already know; it's a critical darling, it's really good, and it was filmed in and around our neighborhood here in Michigan.

Alright, you probably didn't know that last part, but now you do.

• Critics' Commentary hosted by The Nerdist's Scott Weinberg, featuring Eric D. Snider (MovieBS), Britt Hayes (Screencrush), Samuel D. Zimmerman (Shock Till You Drop), Alison Nastasi (Flavorwire) and Eric Vespe (AICN).
• A Conversation with Film Composer Disasterpeace.
• Poster Art Gallery.

Read our review of It Follows HERE.

With a never-before-seen, alternate cut of the film—plus 90 minutes of all-new, immersive special features—the X-Men: Days of Future Past Rogue Cut takes you deeper into the X-Men universe than ever before. Rogue makes her return as the all-star characters from the original X-Men film trilogy join forces with their younger selves and unite to battle armies of murderous Sentinel robots who are hunting down mutants and humans alike!

Um... we like the X-Men movies. Don't necessarily love them, but we like them. Is there anything about a Special Cut of DOFP that we need to see? I don't know. Maybe?

Doesn't sound like much of an endorsement for a release that we're calling one of July's best, I know, but it's nothing that we need to own... of course the legions of X-Men fans out there may be of a different mind when it comes to this release, which we completely get.

If you're a fan of all things X-Men, then this is one release that you should be absolutely giddy for.

Disc 1

• Both the Theatrical Cut of the Film and the Rogue Cut of the Film.
• Commentary: Director Bryan Singer and Composer/Film Editor John Ottman. 
• Commentary: Director Bryan Singer and Producer/Writer Simon Kinberg.
• Second Screen App.

Disc 2

• Mutant vs. Machine.
• X-Men: Unguarded.
• Gallery: Storyboards, Costumes & Concept Art.
• Fantastic Four Sneak Peek.
• Digital HD.

There aren't any stellar releases at the bottom of the order this week, although we do have to say that we've seen the first two episodes of Powers, and it was pretty good, so maybe that's worth checking out.

Also, Blown Away is a great flick, and would be a nice pick-up.

Everything else, as always, is a crap-shoot.