DVD: “The Stanford Prison Experiment,” “Steel,” “Trashology,” & More!

Sleepers and under the radar fare dominate this week’s home entertainment highlights!

Students become the teachers in disturbing thriller-drama The Stanford Prison Experiment (above), a gay man struggles with mental illness while a sexy 18-year-old tries to help him in Steel, and trashy camp comedy rules in anthology flick Trashology.

Now for trailers and the details!

 

The Stanford Prison Experiment

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($24.99 DVD; IFC)

Having previously tackled the screen’s first David Sedaris story adaptation. C.O.G., openly gay director Kyle Patrick Alvarez dramatizes a 1971 experiment in which a Stanford University psychology professor simulated a jail setting and cast 24 students – portrated by a cast of hip young actors including Ezra Miller, Tye Sheridan, and Kier Gilchrist – in prisoner and guard roles to see what happens. Let’s just say the experiment resulted in shocking and atrocious developments and behavior in the young folk… and the ones who orchestrated it. Triple-feature this with another pair of films inspired by the famed 1971 experiment, 2001 German import Das Experiment and 2010’s The Experiment with Adrien Brody. A Blu-ray version will follow this early DVD release in January.

 

Steel

($24.99 DVD; Breaking Glass Pictures)

Director Sven J. Matten and his co-writer Melissa Kajpust tackle mental illness in this drama about a gay TV journalist, Daniel, who is suddenly plunged into deep depression. Plagued by panic attacks, his life threatens to completely derail, but when he meets the beguiling 18-year-old Alexander at a club, romance suddenly injects itself into the equation. Can love – and some pretty hot sex scenes – conquer all? Extras include deleted scenes.

 

Trashology

($19.99 Blu-ray, $14.99 DVD; Slasher Video)

Likened to “John Waters meets Troma” plus Quentin Tarantino and Tales From The Crypt, this is campy, gleefully low-budget anthology fare. The framing device sees an adult college student discover a book containing stories about revenge, violence, and horror. In “The Vat,” a bible-thumper gets comeuppance from a couple of fed-up friends. In “Big Debbie” a large gal becomes sex slave for two men, which leads to a Pulp Fiction-esque death and the clumsy cover-up that follows. And “Inglorious Bitches” sees a pair of female vigilantes use a smartphone app to track down and extinguish the lives of sex offenders. Make a drinking game of it!

ALSO OUT:

The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

 

We Are Your Friends

 

Trash