DaytonDailyNews.com

The Crypt Keeper has nothing on Hollywood.

Every Halloween season, studios open their vaults to unleash horror movie titles like a swarm of bats.

Recent weeks have seen the DVD release of such big-screen horror hits as "1408" and "28 Weeks Later."

Plenty of other new fright-films also lurk on video store shelves, or wait like a vampire at the door to be invited into your Netflix queue.

Some films you might not have seen on the big screen, such as the award-winning horror-comedies "Fido," "Black Sheep" and "Severance." Others you might not have seen in years, such as the Vincent Price classics "The Fly" and "Witchfinder General."

Here's a look at some of this year's notable Halloween DVD releases to help you plan your home horror-movie marathon. The titles are now available, unless otherwise noted.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2419 or dlarsen@DaytonDailyNews.com.

The Canadian horror-comedy "Fido" plays like "Night of the Living Dead" meets "Lassie." The drop-dead funny satire is set in an idyllic 1950s-style suburb, where flesh-eating zombies have been domesticated to perform menial tasks.

The brightly produced film features Carrie-Anne Moss, Billy Connolly, Dylan Baker and Tim Blake Nelson. "Fido" is destined to become a cult classic. (Available Oct. 23.)

"Black Sheep"

An experiment in genetic engineering turns mild sheep into bloodthirsty predators in "Black Sheep," a gleefully gruesome horror-comedy from New Zealand.

The film combines outlandish humor and graphic gore as the murderous mutton rampage like zombies across the landscape. Humanity's only hope is a sheep-phobic farmer's son and a ditzy animal-rights activist.

"Severance"

Co-workers on a team-building corporate retreat get the axe — literally — in "Severance," a sharply funny send-up of slasher film conventions.

The stylish British horror-comedy plays like a cross between "The Office" and "Friday the 13th." A wrong-headed manager leads his employees to a rundown "luxury" lodge in the woods, where they are picked off in ironic, grisly fashion.

"Severance" has a strong cast that includes Toby Stephens, Tim McInnerny, Laura Harris and Danny Dyer. It's fun viewing after a killer day at work.

"Frostbitten"

The Swedish horror film "Frostbitten" has a similar premise as the new Hollywood release "30 Days of Night." Vampires descend on a remote town under "polar night" — 30 days of 24-hour darkness.

The award-winning film is the first modern, big-budget vampire movie to come out of a Scandinavian country. It follows a young girl and her mother, who move to small town with a dark and deadly secret.

"Frostbitten" delivers creepy chills, as well as offbeat laughs — highlighted by talking dogs and lethal garden gnomes. It also proves that both vampires and dumb teenagers are universal. In Swedish, with English subtitles.

"Murder Party"

A hapless office drone accepts a mysterious invitation to Halloween party, unaware that the deranged hosts plan to kill whoever arrives.

The inventive, low-budget horror-comedy won the Audience Award at 2007 Slamdance Film Festival and the Best Feature Award at the 2007 Vail Film Festival.

Dressed as a cardboard knight, the dorky guest finds himself about to be slain in the name of art. But his pretentious art-school captors prove to be more dangerous to one another than their victim.

Scream legend

Hollywood screen villain Vincent Price starred in countless horror films from the 1950s through the 1980s, ranging from the classic "House of Wax" to the campy "Theater of Blood."

With his distinctive voice and urbane manner, Price was the American counterpart to England's Boris Karloff.

The Merchant of Menace gets his due this Halloween season with two new collections, both featuring DVD debuts.

"The Fly Collection" is a four-disc set that features the original 1958 film "The Fly," its sequel "Return of the Fly" and the DVD debut of "The Curse of the Fly," along with new documentaries and featurettes.

Price doesn't appear in the trilogy's final film — nor does the fly.

"MGM Movie Scream Legends: Vincent Price Collection" features seven Price films from the 1960s and '70s, including the quintessential "The Abominable Dr. Phibes," along with a disc of so-so bonus features.

The five-disc set highlighted by the DVD debut of "Witchfinder General," an influential 1968 horror classic that features what is perhaps Price's finest role.

The "Vincent Price Collection" is a great way for fans to collect some of the actor's most popular movies.

"Witchfinder General" also is available as a separate release, for those who already own the other films.

Late-night fright

MGM Home Entertainment has revived its Midnite Movies DVD series by popular demand, thanks to an online petition that gathered nearly 5,000 signatures. The series returns with five new MGM Midnite Movies double-features.

Fox Home Entertainment, which acquired MGM distribution rights, joins the fun with six two-disc double-feature Midnite Movie sets of its own.

All of the 22 new entries in the series are DVD debuts. The high-quality versions of such obscure favorites as "The Beast Within" and "Bat People" are available for only $14.98 for each two-film collection.

The new titles are highlighted by "Tales From the Crypt," an acclaimed 1972 horror anthology film whose cast included Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Patrick Magee and Sir Ralph Richardson. The two-disc set also includes "Crypt's" 1973 sequel, "Vault of Horror."

Camp vamp

Cassandra Peterson sent up schlocky horror films during the 1980s as the host of "Elvira's Movie Macabre."

The weekly late-night television show featured Peterson as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Dressed in a low-cut black gown and towering black wig, she introduced B-grade or worse horror movies with groaning one-liners.

"You won't want to miss one single minute of it," Elvira says of the 1967 film "Maneater of Hydra." "You might want to miss the whole darn thing."

Shout Factory has released three new "Elvira's Movie Macabre" double-feature DVD sets, featuring six films as originally presented on the TV program.

Unfortunately, the poor print quality of the films makes them look and sound terrible. As Elvira would say, you might want to miss the whole darn thing.