VOD Releases: Go on a World Tour from Your Own Home
April 9, 2020
This could turn out to be the most important weekend for the movie industry in decades. It’s the weekend
Trolls: World Tour comes out on the home market. This is the first major motion picture with a planned saturation level release that is not being pushed back due to the Covid-19 outbreak, but is instead coming out on Video on Demand. In a few years, we might look back at this week as the week the movie industry changed fundamentally, if this film is a big enough hit to convince studios that theatrical releases are unnecessary.
Bad Boys For Life - Reviews
Butt Boy - Reviews
Fantasy Island - Reviews
The Lost Husband - Reviews
Les Misérables - Reviews
Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpions’s Revenge - Reviews
Refugee No Reviews
The Rhythm Section - Reviews
The Roads Not Taken - Reviews
Sea Fever - Reviews
Stray Dolls - Reviews
Trolls: World Tour - Reviews
Underwater - Reviews
We Summon the Darkness - Reviews
Witness to Murder: A Darrow Mystery - No Reviews
Amazon VOD, Amazon VOD (With Bonus Features), Amazon 4K UHD VOD, Amazon VOD, Amazon VOD (With Bonus Features), iTunes, Google Play, or Vudu
This is the biggest box office hit of the year so far and it will likely remain there for quite some time, as movie theaters could still be closed for quite some time.
Vudu
An alcoholic detective thinks his AA sponsor is responsible for several missing people, because they are disappearing up his butt. …I have nothing to add.
Amazon VOD, Amazon VOD (Unrated Edition), Amazon 4K UHD VOD, Google Play, or Google Play
The is one of several low-budget horror movies to come out this year. Of these, only one didn’t bomb in theaters. This wasn’t the exception. Also, there’s direct competition coming out this week.
Vudu
A romantic drama about a young widow, who moves from the big city to the country and falls in love. The reviews are better than most similar films earn, but I fear it might fall between the cracks.
Amazon VOD or Amazon Ultra HD VOD
This Oscar-Nominated film had a limited release back in January. The Oscar nomination didn’t really help the film at the box office, but hopefully it will perform better on the home market.
Amazon
This animated installment in the Mortal Kombat franchise comes out on VOD on Sunday. I’m not sure why. Sunday is Easter, so it is a holiday, but Mortal Kombat doesn’t makes sense as an Easter Sunday release. There are still no reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, but fans of the video should be interested in checking it out. That said, I would wait for reviews, maybe even wait until you can rent it.
Official Site
A documentary about the Syrian refugee crisis. There are no reviews on Rotten Tomatoes; in fact, there is no page on Rotten Tomatoes. The film doesn’t hit VOD until Tuesday, so there’s time for reviews to appear.
Amazon or Google Play
This film earned weak reviews and bombed in theaters. It will likely do better on the home market, only because it could hardly do worse.
Google Play
This is one of those incredibly frustrating films to watch, as you can tell there is a great movie somewhere here. The acting is excellent and the core of the story is compelling, but the overall effort isn’t where it needs to be.
Vudu
A marine biologist aboard a research vessel has to contend with a parasite. The film is the latest from Gunpowder and Sky and the company has put out some great films during their very short history so far. The film’s Tomatometer Score is strong, especially for a horror film, and while the average score is not quite as impressive, 7 out of 10 is still good for at least a VOD rental.
Vudu
A former gang member and a runaway meet and try to find a better life together by selling stolen drugs. The reviews are good, but not great, so it is probably best as a rental.
Official Site
This could be the most important release of the year. If this film does as well as some theater owners fear it will do, it could change how movies are released. Families might realize going to the movies to see first-run movies are just not worth it and with nearly every major studio working on a streaming service of their own, we could see films like this being used to sell subscriptions instead of movie tickets. As for this film’s chances, its reviews are good, but the average score is a lot weaker than its Tomatometer Score, so it is another case of a film that most critics like, but few love. That said, this is just fine for a family film.
Amazon, Google Play
This film earned mixed reviews and bombed in theaters. I put in a request for a screener, because I heard it had a Lovecraftian twist to it and I love the Lovecraft Mythos. I really hope it is better than its reviews. It has to be better than its box office numbers, right?
Google Play
A horror film set in the late 1980s during the time of Satanic Panic. Three ladies go to a heavy metal concert, despite there being a satanic serial killer running around. They meet three guys and decide to head to a cabin together. However, what should have been a night of fun turns horrifying when both groups thinks the serial killer is among the other group. The film’s reviews are strong, maybe they would have been strong enough to find an audience in theaters. Unfortunately, there have been too many low-budget horror movies that bombed this year for me to be bullish about this film’s chances. I hope I’m wrong.
Amazon
This is the fourth film in the Darrow & Darrow TV movie franchise. This one has no reviews, but that’s common for Hallmark Channel original movies, so you can’t judge the movie based on that.
Filed under: Home Market Releases, VOD Releases, Bad Boys For Life, Trolls: World Tour, Underwater, The Rhythm Section, Fantasy Island, We Summon the Darkness, The Roads Not Taken, Stray Dolls, Les misérables, Sea Fever, The Lost Husband, Butt Boy, Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpions’s Revenge, Witness to Murder: A Darrow Mystery, Refugee, Mortal Kombat