Wes Craven’s Lost(ish) Teen Witchcraft Movie Is Coming To Home Video

We’re losing our horror directors at a rate one might reasonably call “alarming” these days, and it's sobering and depressing. An era is ending and it'll be a sad day indeed when it's gone for good. Maybe that's why seeing this press release in my inbox this morning, about the release of the late Wes Craven’s 1978 witchcraft entry Summer of Fear, made me perk up a bit.

Here’s the full press release:

Wes Craven’s Summer of Fear

Special Collector’s Edition Arrives on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD beginning October 10
 
Extras Include Exclusive ‘NEW’ Interview with Linda Blair

Chicago,IL (August 28, 2017)  – This summer, Doppelganger Releasing brings back master of horror, Wes Craven's 1978 cult favorite Summer of Fear, also known as Stranger in Our House, starring Linda Blair, Lee Purcell, Jeremy Slate, Jeff East and Fran Drescher.                   

Based on the best-selling young adult novel by Lois Duncan of You Know What I Did Last Summer fame, Wes Craven’s Summer of Fear tells the tale of plucky teenaged Rachel (Linda Blair) whose life is turned dangerously upside down when her cousin Julie (Lee Purcell) moves in following the death of her parents in a car crash. Julie enchants everyone in the family and appears to be a loving relative, but Rachel knows her cousin is up to something creepy…something like witchcraft!

Thirty-nine years later, Wes Craven’s Summer of Fear will finally make its Blu-ray debut with a Special Collector’s Edition alongside a DVD and VOD (iTunes, Amazon Instant, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube) release. The disc will be available beginning October 10th for the suggested retail price of $29.95 (BD) and $19.95 (DVD). Special bonus features will contain: exclusive new interview with Linda Blair; director commentary by Wes Craven; poster and still gallery; original trailer.

Guys, I’m quite old, and I’ve never even heard of this one. That's because it's a weird old TV-movie, from the era when TV-movies were off-the-wall and fun and extra disreputable. (There was a DVD release 14 years ago, but it hit when there were a lot of "Wes Craven Presents" things hitting DVD, so it flew under my radar and has been out of print for some time.) So Summer of Fear is probably not a lost masterpiece, but Linda Blair in a 1970s Wes Craven-directed TV-movie adaptation of a YA novel about teen witchcraft? With Fran Drescher? This hits a lot of buttons for a lot of horror fans. You know who you are.