The hit cable series Fear the Walking Dead leads this week’s parade of home entertainment releases that also includes a 2-disc release from the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, a beautifully re-mastered version of the classic mecha anime series, and a brutally scary horror film from Austria, which was that country’s 2015 Oscar entry.

TV on DVD

This week’s top release is Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete 1st Season (Starz, 291 min., $39.99, BD $49.99), which contains all six first season episodes of The Walking Dead spin-off.  With its elements of family drama combined with a gritty look at the effect of the zombie apocalypse on an urban environment, Fear the Walking Dead is clearly one of the major successes of the current TV series—having averaged a cable record (for a new series) 11.2 million viewers (see “Fear the Walking Dead Breaks Cable Records”).

A much less successful sort of thriller, which also debut in 2015, is Zoo: Season 1 (Paramount, 525 min., $64.99, BD $76.99), which collects the CBS summer series based on the James Patterson novel about a worldwide revolt by other species, who appear to be intent on attacking humans.

For those who enjoy the savage sarcastic putdowns of the campy films chosen for Mystery Science Theater 3000, there is Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXXIV (Shout Factory, 480 min., $59.99) in which the MST3K crew make merciless fun of a quartet of “grade Z” films including Viking Women vs. the Sea Monster, War of the Colossal Beast, The Undead, and The She-Creature.

This week’s lone animated release is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Vol. 9: Revenge! (Nickelodeon, $19.99), a 2-disc set that includes the first 12 episodes of Season 3 of the new TMNT series on Nickelodeon, plus a preview look at Season 4.

There is only one vintage TV release this week, The Bold Ones: The Lawyers, The Complete Series (Timeless Media, 1515 min., $59.99), an 8-disc set that presents all 29 episodes featuring Burl Ives, Joseph Campanella, and James Farentino, who starred as “The Lawyers” on the rotating NBC series that aired from 1969-1973 and also included episodes featuring “The New Doctors,” “The Protectors,” and “The Senator.”

Anime

This week’s releases include Fairy Tail: Part 18 (Funimation, 325 min., BD/DVD Combo $54.95), which contains episodes 200 to 212 of anime series produced by Satelight that is based on the popular D&D-influenced fantasy adventure manga by Hiro Mashima.  This highly enjoyable series is still ongoing in Japan where it has reached 264 episodes.

For fans of old school mecha anime, this week’s top release is Mobile Suit Gundam: Collection 2 (Right Stuf, 525 min., $59.99, BD $74.99), which contains episodes 22-45 of the classic 1979 anime series created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino.  This new edition has been brilliantly re-mastered from a 35mm print, and the BD version is well worth the extra coin.

Also due on Tuesday is Space Brothers: Collection 6 (Sentai Filmworks, 275 min., $49.98, BD $59.98), which contains 11 episodes of the 99-episode series produced by A-1 Pictures and based on the comedy/drama/hard sci-fi manga by Chuya Koyama about two brothers who join Japan’s space program.  In Collection 6, Mutta, who has always been jealous of his brother Hibito’s success, is about to realize his astronaut dreams, but he doesn’t realize that Hibito’s career is in serious jeopardy.

Theatrical Movies

The fact that the documentary Amy (Lionsgate, “R,” 128 min., $19.98, BD $24.98) is this week’s top theatrical release does indicate a weak slate of theatrical films, but Asif Kapadia’s film is of interest not just to music fans, who enjoyed Amy Winehouse’s soulful delivery, but to anyone interested in seeing how the mechanism of “fame” can twist an individual in so many different (and often deadly) ways.

Other films of interest this week include the arthouse splatter film Goodnight Mommy (Anchor Bay, “R,” 99 min., $22.98, BD $26.98).  This Austrian film about “two” creepy kids who think that their mother, who has just returned from having plastic surgery, isn’t their mother, has a great deal of psychological validity in its portrayal of the world as a mentally ill individual may see it.  Having said that, there is far too much torture porn here for all but the more hardened horror film buff, along with a clinical, arthouse approach that might put off some fans of more traditional horror films—still there is no denying that Goodnight Mommy is both scary and intellectually rigorous in a way in which horror movies typically aren’t.

Another potential “cult” film is Mississippi Grind (Lionsgate, “R,” 96 min., $19.98, BD $24.98), a sort of a mash-up between the road movie and gambling addiction genres that benefits from strong performances by Ben Mendelsohn, Ryan Reynolds, and Sienna Miller, along with lots of authentic Southern atmosphere.  Critics gave Mississippi Grind an 89% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences were not nearly as impressed by this character study—as the film made just $100K in limited release.

Of all the live-action, non-documentary films due out on Tuesday, the one that made the most money was the faith-based drama 90 Minutes in Heaven (Universal, “PG-13,” 122 min., $26.98, BD $29.98), a Christian-themed saga about finding hope and the will to live, which earned $4.8 million at the box office.

The Mexican computer-animated film Un Gallo con muchos huevos (literally “A Rooster With Many Eggs), was released here as Huevos: Little Rooster’s Egg-cellent Adventure (Lionsgate, “PG-13,” 98 min., $19.99).  While this saga of a runty little rooster who summons the courage to fight an evil rancher offers little new in its storyline, Gabriel Alatriste’s film was effective enough to earn a solid 70% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The worst film debuting this week, at least according to the critics, is the romcom Some Kind of Beautiful (Lionsgate, “R,” 99 min., $19.98, BD $19.98), which stars Pierce Brosnan as a Cambridge University Professor, who impregnates an American student played by Jessica Alba, but is in love with her sister (played by Selma Hayak).  This May/December romcom received only a 4% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so all but the most dedicated Brosnanophiles should proceed with extreme caution.