31 Nights Of Terror Continues with another nod to the young ones. Disney knows how to do scary, but not so much. It's a chance to invite the kids into the festivities. From the folks at Disney Junior comes Vampirina. She's the new kid on the block straight from Transylvania. It's 4 episodes of the "fangtastic" show and it's new on DVD.

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"All of human history has led to this moment. The irony is we created you. And nature has been punishing us ever since. This is our last stand. And if we lose... it will be a Planet of Apes."

I was always a fan of the original Planet Of The Apes series of films. While they often flirted with a camp style, I was impressed with John Chambers' makeup effects and the performances of Roddy McDowall as both Cornelius and Caesar. Then came the television show, and I was just as enchanted, and that was helped along by McDowall's appearance as a third ape, Galen. The show didn't last a season, and before long the Apes franchise was left in some kind of limbo.

"Green Acres is the place to be..."

It was 1965, and CBS was enjoying the fruits of the era's fascination with rural sit-coms. Paul Henning was on a roll as a series creator. It started with The Beverly Hillbillies in 1962, where we were all invited to sit a spell with the Clampetts, a rural family who discovered oil on their property and ended up finding out that California was the place they oughta be, more specifically Beverly Hills, complete with "cement ponds" and movie stars. The show was such a success that Henning spun it off into Petticoat Junction a year later. The show covered the happenings at the Shady Rest Hotel which happened to be located at a water stop on the C. & F.W. Railroad in the hick town of Hooterville. Again Henning hit comedy gold. Two years later, Hooterville would be the location for Green Acres, a kind of reverse Beverly Hillbillies. This time a couple from a penthouse apartment in New York City would come to Hooterville and replay the fish-out-of-water routine just as The Beverly Hillbillies had done three years earlier. Green Acres would last until 1971, when all three shows would become victims of the CBS Rural Purge. Under pressure from sponsors who were afraid of losing their urbanite customers, all of these shows were axed. One news reporter at the time reported that "CBS cancelled everything with a tree, including Lassie."

For a gritty historical epic to get the green light these days, it has to have some sort of easy-to-understand hook. (“Hey, it's sexy King Arthur!”) And it seems like enough people complained about the prevalence of PG-13 action movies that it led to the current boom of R-rated sensations — like Deadpool and the John Wick flicks — that gleefully go to extremes. There is absolutely nothing gleeful about Pilgrimage, and the movie doesn't seem all that interested in hooking the masses (significant portions of the film are in French, Irish, and Latin). In other words, the most striking and impressive thing about Pilgrimage is also what can make it feel like somewhat of a slog: this movie is dead serious.

This week, we're getting our stinking paws on one of the year's best-reviewed, big-budget blockbusters. War for the Planet of the Apes (4K) swings into UpcomingDiscs HQ, courtesy of our friends at Fox. Elsewhere, RLJ Entertainment battles its way through Brooklyn with the NYC-based action flick Bushwick. Before signing off for the week (and for October), here’s the usual reminder: if you’re shopping for anything on Amazon and you do it through one of our links, it’ll help keep the lights on here at UpcomingDiscs. See ya next week and have a spooktacular Halloween!

Director James Whale and horror icon Boris Karloff teamed up for one of the most memorable horror films ever made when they filmed Universal's atmospheric classic Frankenstein in 1931. Just four years later they reunited for one of Hollywood's best sequels in Bride Of Frankenstein. Lost in these legendary tag-team efforts, and nestled nicely between the two films, one finds 1932's The Old Dark House. That film launched a horror sub-genre that continues to this very day: the Haunted House movie. The film also stared future Titanic survivor Gloria Stuart. It was one of the first films the actress ever made when her career started that very same year.

Andy Serkis is mostly known for pioneering the industry of motion capture performance. Most of you may not know that he's worked a bit behind the camera as well. He's led a few second units as director but had not actually directed a feature film. Breathe is his first effort, and while it has some truly nice moments, it looks like a first effort. I have no doubt that Serkis will be eventually demand notice as a director. He demonstrates an incredible base of knowledge when it comes to filmmaking. He certainly understands how to make an emotional connection with characters that aren't really there. The skills are evident. But I suspect Breathe won't be called upon in a future list of Andy Serkis masterpieces.

“Welcome! Everything is fine.”

One of my favorite bits from the dearly departed Inside the Actors Studio involved host James Lipton administering a questionnaire that concluded with "If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?" It's a momentous question that often drew a humorous response. The Good Place opens with its main character waking up in the afterlife and being greeted with bright green lettering that says "Welcome! Everything is fine." It's a reassuring sentiment to be sure, but let's be clear: there is nothing just "fine" about The Good Place. This sharp, hilarious, and goodhearted fantasy/comedy is spectacular!

31 Nights Of Terror continues a big year for giveaways. Our scary pals at Warner Brothers have given us a copy of Kong: Skull Island in 3D to give away. Important to understand that you have to have a 3D television in order to view this film in 3D. Not many out there these days.

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Based on a true story. We see those words preceding a lot of films these days. It's almost as if we've started to chronicle our big moments via the cinema. If a story is tragic enough or portrays outstanding bravery or courage, you can expect it to eventually get a feature film. I can almost predict the big films of 2020 or so just by looking at the headlines in 2017. It's become a little overdone for my tastes and can often appear exploitive in nature. These films are often devoid of originality. Of course they are. They're based on something that real life has already written. I've seen bumper stickers that say "God is my co-pilot". I'm waiting for him to get some screenplay credit or a chair in the writer's room. Of course, he'd be expected to start paying dues to the Writer's Guild. There's also the added problem that the audience already knows how the film is going to end.