Tuesday June 22 is short of exciting horror, fantasy, and science fiction titles arriving on home video, but cult fans will be pleased to note new DVD and Blu-ray discs for DEATH RACE 2000, the 1978 satire from producer Roger Corman, about a lethal cross-country race, for which drivers improve their ranking by mowing down pedestrians. It’s no secret that DEATH RACE is basically an exploitation rip-off of ROLLERBALL, but in this case the little low-budget movie is far livelier than its big-budget template. The film,  which stars the late David Carradine and a pre-ROCKY Sylvester Stallone, has been previously released on DVD several times (including a special edition), but this marks its Blu-ray debut. The high-def disc (featuring a 1.85 transfer from the Interpositive film element) is loaded with bonus features, including:

• David On Death Race: Interview with David Carradine
• Audio Commentary With Roger Corman & Mary Woronov
• New Audio Commentary With Assistant Director Lewis Teague And Editor Tina Hirsh
• Playing The Game: Looking Back at Death Race 2000
• Ready To Wear: Interview with costume designer Jane Ruhm
• Designing Dystopia A detailed look at the design of the films now-legendary race cars, costumes and futuristic landscapes with members of the production, design and costume crew
• Start Your Engines: Interview with author Ib Melchior
• Killer Score: An all-new interview with composer Paul Chihara on the creation of the films eclectic score
• Leonard Maltin Interviews Roger Corman About Death Race 2000
• Theatrical Trailer
• Theatrical Trailer With Commentary By John Landis
• TV And Radio spots
• 12-Page Booklet
• New World Trailers

The week’s other releases include AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER: THE COMPLETE BOOK 1 (COLLECTOR’S EDITION) and THE GOTHIC HORROR COLLECTION: NOSFERATU, VAMPYR, AND LE VAMPIRE. The former is a 7-disc collection of the animated series that inspired by upcoming movie by M. Night Shyamalan. The latter is a single-disc featuring the over-rated F.M. Murnau silent adaptation of DRACULA, plus Carl Theodore Dryer’s creepy and critically well regarded VAMPYR (1932) and LE VAMPIRE (1945), a short documentary about vampire bats.
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