The Stepfather and The Strangers Receive Killer 4K Treatment While Knuckles and Super Friends Provide Family Fun - Viva Physical Media

Plus, get ready for the adventures of Redneck Miller!

It’s Halloween season, so it’s only fitting to kick off this look at some recent arrivals on 4K UHD and Blu-ray with two well regarded horror films that have new releases available. I’m also spotlighting two family-friendly kids shows that you can pick up - one a very recent streaming series, the other a decades-old animated show that brought the Justice League off the pages of comic books for the first time. Plus, journey with me on my first-ever exploration of 1970’s… hicksploitation!?

The Stepfather 4K UHD + Blu-ray

A long time favorite – I often find myself introducing it to friends who’ve never seen it – 1987’s The Stepfather is a terrific blend of horror with an “unassuming neighborhood psycho” type of thriller that would become super popular in the 1990s with the likes of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Pacific Heights and Single White Female. 

Terry O’Quinn is absolutely fantastic in the title role, playing a man currently calling himself Jerry Blake who continually takes on a new identity in order to marry a woman who already has a child, in his quest to quickly accomplish his dream scenario of the perfect suburban family. Except when things inevitably don’t turn out so perfect, he snaps, brutally murders his family, and moves on to the next town and next persona. Screenwriter Donald E. Westlake and director Joseph Ruben do a great job of depicting Jerry’s mindset and ratcheting up the tension as Jerry’s past threatens to come back to haunt him, while his new stepdaughter (Jill Schoelen) begins to suspect there is something very wrong with the man her mom (Shelley Hack) has brought into their home. 

The new 4K transfer of The Stepfather looks very good, highlighting the impressive work of cinematographer John Lindley, working with a much lower budget than he’d have as his career continued on films like Pleasantville and Field of Dreams. Ruben and Lindley do a nice job depicting the would-be idyllic suburban world Jerry lives in, with the darkness sneaking in from all around, starting with the basement where Jerry lets his dark side begin to exert itself… 

IS THERE A COMMENTARY?

Oh my is there - four of them in fact! It had been well over a decade since Shout!/Scream Factory had released The Stepfather on Blu-ray and they used the opportunity of the 4K’s debut and accompanying new Blu-ray transfer to expand quite a bit on the previous bonus features. The commentary that director Joseph Ruben did for the earlier release is maintained, but it’s joined by three new ones: one with Jill Schoelen joined by Beyond the Gates director Jackson Stewart; one with film critic Meagan Navarro; and another with film critic Kier Gomes. Suffice to say, between all four, the film is examined and discussed in incredible detail. 

The Blu-ray disc also contains a brand new interview with Schoelen, discussing her memories of making The Stepfather, along with the previously-released “The Stepfather Chronicles” making-of featurette, with numerous interview participants, including Ruben and Schoelen. Trailers for The Stepfather and its two diminished return sequels are also included. 

The one unfortunate missing component here is any material, whether new or old, that includes Terry O’Quinn. His performance is truly something special and underlined his immense talent many years before he’d become a bigger star thanks to Lost, and it’s too bad they couldn’t secure his participation on this new release, for whatever reason. Still, this is an easy recommendation, offering plenty of bonus features alongside a really engaging yet still often overlooked horror classic.

The Strangers 4K UHD + Blu-ray

Scream Factory has also given the first-ever 4K treatment to 2008’s The Strangers, with a new three-disc set that includes the unrated version of the film on 4K and the theatrical and unrated version on the two Blu-ray discs. 

Writer/director Bryan Bertino’s home invasion horror film still holds up as an effectively stark and grim experience, as a couple, Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman), find themselves terrorized by a mysterious, masked trio who are toying with them for their own sadistic reasons. The build up, as we join the couple in the midst of what is already a highly emotional and upsetting night – she has just turned down his proposal and their relationship may be over – is effective at investing us in Kristen and James as characters before things take a horrific turn. And the movie impressively, albeit upsettingly, refuses to offer any of the usual sort of release we expect in this type of story as (spoiler alert!) there is never any kind of cathartic moment where Kristen and James ever get the upper hand on their tormentors. 

The Strangers gets an upgrade to be sure via its 4K transfer, but it should be noted this is a rather darkly lit film and there are a couple of scenes that still may require a bit of adjustment on your settings to see clearly - though maybe you won’t do that if it’s freaking you out too much to want to see more, as Bertino chillingly depicts his villains brazenly wandering through this house, sometimes undetected by their prey. 

Already avalable on previous home versions of the film, the unrated cut of The Strangers doesn’t offer any additional graphic material, but mainly is different for one additional scene right near the end that adds one last kick in the gut both to one of the main characters and to the audience. Regardless of the cut, revisting The Strangers was a reminder of how hollow this year’s reboot, The Strangers: Chapter 1, felt in comprarison to what is accomplished here.

IS THERE A COMMENTARY?

There is not. All the bonus features are ported over from Scream Factory’s 2018 Blu-ray release, including separate interviews with Bertino, editor Kevin Greutert, Kip Weeks (“Man In The Mask”) and Laura Margolis (“Pin Up Girl”) that were conducted for that disc. Per usual for Shout!/Scream Factory, these are all well done and insightful. There are also older featurettes, dating back to the film’s original home release, that include more of the cast, which is the one place Tyler and Speedman are included. 

Knuckles 4K UHD

Though The Super Mario Bros. Movie has been the biggest success story in our new and improved “they don’t all suck anymore!” era for video game-based movies, it’s Mario’s old Sega-owned frenemy (remember when they competed against each other at the Olympics?!) who has managed to do the best job at cinematic franchising so far. After the first hit Sonic the Hedgehog movie opened in 2020, we’re already up to a third installment opening this December, and earlier this year, the Knuckles TV series served as an extension of the films.

Idris Elba reprises his Sonic 2-originated role as the voice of the title character, alongside Adam Pally, also returning from the films as the goofy Wade Whipple. The six-episode series serves as a mismatched buddy road trip story, as Wade and Knuckles go on a trip to Reno, pursued by agents of the group G.U.N. who want Knuckles for nefarious reasons - as you might guess based on a group called G.U.N. 

With Sonic movie trilogy director Jeff Fowler back to helm the first episode and multiple actors from the film popping up in guest roles (including Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic, Colleen O'Shaughnessey as the voice of Tails and Tika Sumpter as Maddie Wachowski), in addition to Elba and Pally’s return, it’s not too surprising Knuckles maintains the same feeling the films have. Like those films, it’s often silly, occasionally annoying, yet also likable and funny if you have affection for the Sonic world and characters. If you enjoy the movies, you should enjoy the show too.

Pally does some heavy lifting here as the only one of the central duo who was an actual on set actor, and brings his wit and charm to expanding the lovable duffus role he established in the movies. Likely reflecting a more restrictive budget than the films, there are a couple of episodes where Knuckles himself is off screen for much of the time, and Pally consistanly keeps the show moving. Elba meanwhile garners some solid laughs with Knuckles’ fish out of water, overly confident attitude, as this casting combination of actor and role remains amusingly wacky. Julian Barratt is also very funny as a very offbeat bounty hunter who figures into the story.

The 4K disc release of the show looks colorful and vibrant, depicting a slight yet noticible increase in image quality from how it appears on Paramount+.

IS THERE A COMMENTARY?

There is not, and the small handful of featurettes are incredibly superficial, running just a minute or two each. One of them has mock interviews with the cast maintaining the idea that Knuckles is real (the cast talk about working with him as though he were an on-set costar) and it’s too bad more isn’t explored about the show on a genuine level, because there’s no doubt the actual production of a show like Knuckles – with a CGI title character interacting with human costars – is probably pretty complex. The only lengthier inclusion is a seven and a half minute gag reel. 

In the streaming era, plenty of new shows don’t get physical releases at all, so it is gratifying that Knuckles at least has this set out (a Blu-ray is available as well), even if it is nearly bare bones. But at least collector-minded Sonic fans can be happy to place the show on their shelves alongside the films.

Super Friends! The Complete Collection Blu-ray

Super Friends is one of those animated superhero shows where the nostalgia factor is high even if the quality level is, certainly by today’s standards for this type of material, not the best. Over the course of 12 years, Super Friends went through many incarnations and many different titles – including The All-New Super Friends Hour, Challenge of the Super Friends, The World's Greatest Super Friends, Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show, and The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians – as the team’s lineup got revamped and different approaches were taken in terms of how long specific adventures were and how many different stories were stuffed into one episode.

The show’s long initial run and subsequent long life in reruns meant multiple generations of kids grew up watching it and thus were introduced to a ton of DC Comics characters thanks to the show, especially in an era when live-action superhero fare was still so rare. Sure, I knew the heavy hitters like Superman, Batman & Robin, and Wonder Woman already, but as an 80s kid, I can personally attest to meeting everyone from The Flash to Green Lantern to The Atom for the first time via this series. And the final seasons would bring in additional DC characters like Firestorm and Cyborg, giving them a much wider audience as well. 

The stories themselves are frequently cheesy and the dialogue stilted, but the charms of Super Friends are still apparent, thanks to its fun, goofy adventures featuring a large roster of superheroes and supervillains, including the iconic Legion of Doom (which included Lex Luthor, Riddler, Bizarro, Black Manta, Sinestro and more) from the show’s Challenge of the Super Friends era. The frequent use of teenage sidekick characters and their animal buddies, including original creations Wendy and Marvin (and Wonder Dog!) and then the Wonder Twins (and Gleek!) is also a silly yet endearing element. 

Over nearly 100 episodes – though the shorter segments in many episodes mean there are closer to 200 stories – Super Friends would evolve in many ways through the years, which is fun to track on this set. This includes a partially commendable, partially cringe-worthy move to add more diversity via original, decidedly unsubtle characters like Black Vulcan, Apache Chief, and Samurai and the material getting oh-so slightly darker in the last couple of years thanks to elements like the introduction of DC Comics villain Darkseid and the show tackling the first-ever onscreen depiction of Batman’s now incredibly well known origin story - with Adam West voicing Batman again during this point in the show’s run, no less! 

This new collection is the first time the show has gotten a Blu-ray release, following its previous DVD incarnations. It’s definitely a step up visually, as the show’s transfer here is more colorful and vibrant than it ever has been in previous releases, even though it still looks and sounds like, well, a fairly cheaply made 1970s-1980s TV cartoon, given that’s exactly what it is. 

IS THERE A COMMENTARY?

Yes, there are a handful, though only for some of the Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show episodes. Those commentaries, like a handful of other bonus features spread across four of the 16 discs in the set, are all holdovers from now-years-old DVD releases of the show. The 8 featurettes, which run anywhere from four to 18 minutes, are quite good, featuring many participants – including some, like writer Mark Waid, who represent DC Comics – talking about Super Friends, the many characters it featured, and the limitations it was created under. 

The lack of any new bonus features and especially the notably shoddy packaging – very plain disc art and extremely difficult to remove discs, which get stuck on the plastic holding them in – is frustrating, given this is a set that has long been desired by fans of the series. Still, just to finally have this collection at all does feel like a victory at this point, even if the presentation could have been a bit better. 

Redneck Miller Blu-ray

A notably obscure 1976 film, Redneck Miller is described as a rare example of the rural-based "hicksploitation" subgenre. Geoffrey Land stars as DJ Miller, a small town DJ (yep, we just have to accept that he’s a DJ named DJ) who’s framed for stealing from some local gangsters. The pacing is ​​languid and the occasional thrills less than thrilling, though there is some amusement to be had in a movie that mixes hicksploitation with 1970s blaxploitation, as Miller is pursued by a crime boss named Supermack (the pulls from Superfly and The Mack are shameless) and his men, while also bedding various local ladies despite continually proving to be a surly jerk to everyone he encounters.

Oh, plus it must be said that Miller doesn’t really feel like a genuine redneck, despite several characters calling him that - Land hardly feels like he represents the redneck side of life as much as the “dude with a southern accent who’s full of himself” side of life.

I found the movie fairly plodding, though it is interesting as a curiosity. However, the story behind the era of cinema that could birth something like Redneck Miller (and how that is explored on disc, as noted below) is pretty interesting. Barely released in 1976, Redneck Miller became a favorite of none other than Quentin Tarantino, who showed it at the New Beverly theater here in Los Angeles, giving it a new cult-ready spotlight. This new Blu-ray, from Film Masters, is its first ever home release in any format - nope, it never even made it to VHS. Restored and color corrected from a 4K scan of one of the only surviving 35mm prints of the movie, Redneck Miller looks remarkably good for a movie made this cheaply and preserved so poorly for so many decades. 

IS THERE A COMMENTARY? 

Yes there is, and honestly, it’s the best part of the disc. As a movie, Redneck Miller is only passable as a cheesy throwback – though I can imagine it might be more fun at a New Beverly screening with an audience there to have a good time – but the commentary from film historian Justin Humphreys is terrific. Despite apologizing for how tricky it was to find much info, Humphreys offers a ton of insight about the film itself, the company who made it, and the era in which it was produced - a time when tiny, regional studios would produce an ultra low budget film like this specifically aimed at the local drive-in theater market.

It’s a fascinating and affectionate yet also no-nonsense commentary (Humphreys isn’t shy at calling out some of the less than stellar acting) for any curious about how a film like Redneck Miller would come to exist in the first place. Humphreys also discusses why its mash-up of hicksploitation and blaxploitation elements, while arguably ambitious in terms of its reach, probably wasn’t the best idea commercially at the time. 

The only other extra is a new trailer made for the film’s restoration.