The big-ticket item this weekend is undoubtedly Criterion’s mammoth Godzilla box set, but what’s bigger than Godzilla but the need for unions? This is why the real essential release is the much-needed Blu-Ray of John Sayles’ Matewan, previously only available in fullscreen in the U.S. and now given a much-needed visual overhaul and substantial special edition. And since it’s scary to not have a union, it’s also a good Spooktober selection, along with fellow releases An American Werewolf in London, the Ringu series (these first two getting the red-carpet treatment from Arrow), and the ’88 The Blob. But there’s more horror than just those. There’s the horror of alcoholism (Days of Wine and Roses), the terror of China’s continued mistreatment of Tibet (Kundun), the nightmare of dying from scarlet fever (the ’94 Little Women, packaged with the not very frightening even by joke standards Marie Antoinette), and the dual frights of scary witches and Jimmy Stewart, now available in 4K.

An American Werewolf in London (Arrow)
The Blob (Shout Factory)
Days of Wine and Roses (Warner Archive Collection)
Godzilla: The Showa-Era Films, 1954-1975 (Criterion)
It’s a Wonderful Life 4K (Paramount)
Kundun (Kino)
Little Women / Marie Antoinette (Mill Creek)
Man of a Thousand Faces (Arrow Academy)
La Marseillaise (Kino)
Matewan (Criterion)
New York Stories (Kino)
Ringu Collection (Arrow)
The Swan Princess (Sony)
The Wizard of Oz 4K (Warner)