New on DVD: A scary "Trick," rockin' docs and Oh, Mary!

A spooky new Halloween classic, documentaries about heavy metal music and Aussie exploitation cinema, plus some tasty '70s TV are just part of the week's new DVD releases.

Read on for more!

Finally making its long-awaited DVD debut is Trick 'r Treat, a Halloween-themed fright flick that's been hotly anticipated ever since Warner Bros. yanked it from release in 2007. That's the sort of move that usually spells doom for a movie, but Trick's reputation has only grown in stature, culminating in recent screenings at Austin's Fantasic Fest and at L.A.'s Cinefamily and New Beverly Theater that have fanboys saying hosannas.

Dylan Baker, Brian Cox and Anna Paquin star in this anthology film set at Halloween; all the stories explore different facets of the holiday, but they're tied together by the unsettling presence of Sam, a sack-headed kid who represents the soul of Halloween.

Fans say that this debut feature from writer-director Michael Dougherty (whose writing credits include X2 and Superman Returns) has the potential to become as tied into October 31st as It's a Wonderful Life is to Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, retailers are already getting ready for the holiday; there's a ton of "yule log" DVDs coming out today, set to classic holiday albums by everyone from Mariah Carey to Andy Williams, as well as the Blu-Ray premieres of Miracle on 34th Street — both versions — and A Charlie Brown Christmas. Why wait 'til the last minute?

Two of this year's acclaimed documentaries make their DVD debuts this week, and lest you think that docs are always about war or famine or economic collapse, these two tackle a whole other brand of subject matter.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil follows the never-say-die dreams of the titular heavy metal band, who have plugged away and lived the dream for decade after decade without ever hitting it really big. Until, ironically, the release of this movie turned them into a hotter item than ever.

Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! explores the all-bets-are-off world of the sex-and-violence–drenched Australian exploitation cinema of the 1970s, combining unbelievable film clips with testimony from experts like Jamie Lee Curtis and Quentin Tarantino.

Disney collectors will want to get their hands on two special editions of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in Blu-Ray that come out today; one's a souped-up box set for the mantlepiece, the other comes with a set of stuffed dwarves for the pocket-plushie in your life.

Two of my favorite 1970s TV legends have their moment on DVD this week: First, there's the long-awaited release of The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Season Five, and while sitcoms come and go, MTM remains one of the all-time greats. 

Dynamic entertainer Lola Falana seems to have mostly dropped out of show business after a relapse of MS in the 1980s, but her energetic performances live on in The Lola Falana Show collection, which features the African-American singer and dancer performing with Sonny and Cher, Bill Cosby, Dick Van Dyke and many more.

And oh, the things you find when you dig through the whole list of DVD releases — also out this week is a softcore sex comedy called Under the Gaydar. (If you want to see the cover art, you'll have to go to Amazon and look for yourself.) The plot goes something like this: Guy pretends to be gay to get women to sleep with him. Guy's parents want to "cure" his gayness, so they hire a hot babe to sleep with him. Guy falls in love with babe. Complications ensue. Ron Jeremy plays himself. Sounds gross.