Blu-ray & DVD: The Digital Dread Report for 1/19

And evil babysitter and her killer tree; a nasty case of the Space Herpe; a female scientist gone Slasher mad; and the story of N.W.A... this is The Digital Dread Report for 1/19!

January is a notoriously slow month for movie releases (both on Home Video and in Theaters), so it can be a bit harder to find the worthwhile titles to spend our time and $$$ on. There are always a few that catch our interest though, and this week gives us four that we would consider owning.

*Be sure to click the pics to order yourself some flicks. 

In his first horror film since The Exorcist, Oscar-winning director William Friedkin spins a terrifying tale based on every parent's worst fear. Jenny Seagrove (Local Hero) portrays the enchanting guardian who enters the home of new parents Dwier Brown (Red Dragon) and Carey Lowell (Licence to Kill) possessing impeccable references and an affinity for children. But as her true intentions are revealed, the battle for the child's soul begins in this chilling film based on Dan Greenburg's popular novel, The Nanny.

Directed by William Friedkin, The Guardian is not only one of the more underrated Horror flicks of the 90's, but one of our favorites Evil Babysitter movies of all-time. Yes, it feels like a typical 90's movie, but it's got some great bits in it, and it's one that we'll happily get reacquainted with now that Scream Factory is releasing it on Blu-ray.

Special Features:

• NEW! A Happy Coincidence: An Interview With Actor Dwier Brown.
• NEW! From Strasberg To The Guardian: An Interview With Actor Gary Swanson.
• NEW! A Mother's Journey: An Interview With Actress Natalija Nogulich.
• NEW! Scoring The Guardian: An Interview With Composer Jack Hues.
• NEW! Tree Woman: The Effects Of The Guardian: An Interview With Makeup Effects Artist Matthew Mungle.
• Return To The Genre - An Interview With Director/Co-writer William Friedkin.
• The Nanny: An Interview With Actress Jenny Seagrove.
• Don't Go Into The Woods: An Interview With Co-writer Stephen Volk.
• Still Gallery Of Behind-The-Scenes Photos.
• Theatrical Trailer.

Spoofy-goofy comedy, otherworldly special effects, spectacular space creatures, bedraggled 'bots, and biceps-rippling swashbuckling (swishbuckling when our heroes try to blend in with some slave eunuchs) highlight this cult fave. Robert Urich (Vegas), Mary Crosby (Dallas), Anjelica Huston (The Addams Family), and Ron Perlman (Hellboy) romp through a storyline involving a determined princess, the search for her missing father, and a lost planet awash in sweet water. The manic, concluding time-warp battle is just the ice-ing on the intergalactic cake. Dig in!

As far as spoofs about Space Movies go, The Ice Pirates may not be as good as Spaceballs, but it's still funny in its own silly way. This is one of those movies that we loved as kids, and we hope that it will be as funny as we remember it when we check it out again.

It also stars a young Ron Perlman, which is kinda fun.

A female scientist performs experiments on three college girls that turn them into drooling, murderous mutants.

I honestly don't remember much abut this half-Slasher, half-Mad Scientist flick from 1986, but it sure sounds like something we'd enjoy. For fans of B-grade Horror that makes no sense, but entertains on a bloody, expectational level, this is probably a disc worth checking out.

It really does look fun as hell in that Retro Horror kind of way. 

Following the rise of the world's most notorious group, Straight Outta Compton features breakout stars O'Shea Jackson Jr. (Ice Cube), Corey Hawkins (Dr. Dre), Jason Mitchell (the late Eazy-E), Neil Brown, Jr. (DJ Yella) and Aldis Hodge (MC Ren) as members of N.W.A. and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Paul Giamatti (HBO's John Adams) as the group's manager.

I know that Straight Outta Compton is not anywhere close to being a Horror movie, and we usually don't highlight straight-up Dramas here, but it was such a great movie that we had to give it a shout out, and tell you to see it.

Whether you like Rap or not, N.W.A came along in the late 80's and changed the game forever. They not only gave birth to Gangster Rap, but they also made the careers of Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog, and eventually, Eminem, possible. Don't skip over this one because you might think it looks like some cheesy story about rappers, because it's a truly excellent flick. It honestly reminds us a lot of 8 Mile.

Also, Ice Cube's son (who plays his dad in the movie) looks EXACTLY like he did back then. It's eerie.

Special Features:

• Deleted Scenes.
• Becoming N.W.A.: An in-depth look at how the producers and F. Gary Gray tackled the challenging task of casting these larger than life creators of gangster rap.
• Never Before Seen Performance.
• N.W.A. The Origins: N.W.A. was a group that changed history. Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, DJ Yella, and many others talk about their start in the 80's and where it all began.
• Impact: An exploration of the impact N.W.A. and specifically their breakout album that changed everything.
• Director's Journey: Utilizing a large amount of stand up interviews, we follow F. Gary Gray through the streets of Compton as he brings together the story of the founders of gangsta rap.
• The Streets - Filming in Compton: Take a look through the lens of Director F. Gary Gray as he perfected the authentic feeling of what it was like to walk the streets of Compton.
• N.W.A Performs in Detroit: We go behind the scenes of what this performance meant to the original members of N.W.A. as they saw their lyrics spark controversy against the corruption of the police in Los Angeles, as well as the thoughts of the actors performing the song on stage for the movie.
• Feature Commentary with director/producer F. Gary Gray.

Not much to report down here, but...

• 12 Monkeys is a much beloved and revered Sci-Fi flick that is getting a Blu-ray release which probably has something to do with the timing of the Syfy TV show. It was a good flick, but it's not one that we're dying to own on Blu-ray. 
• The only other release this week that is notable, at least to us, is Hana Dama: The Origin. It looks pretty solid. 
• Everything else this week, as always, is a crap-shoot.